m 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

ChapJ*?__ Copyright No. 

Shelf_,_?!l , 
\f<*fe 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



flrving's popular Worfcs 



The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, 
Gent. 

Knickerbocker's History of New York. 

Bracebridge Hall, or The Humourists. 

The Tales of a Traveller. 

The Alhambra. 

Crayon Miscellany. 

Wolfert's Roost, and Other Papers. 



In various editions ranging in price 
from 75cts. to $6. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York & London 




HE WAS SCRAMBLING UP A TREE, WHEN I SHOT HIM THROUGH THE BREAST.' 



Stories and <* 

Legends * from 

/Washington * 

Irving ^ * * 



llluatratefc 







NEW YORK & LONDON <& G. P. 
PUTNAM'S SONS <& ^ <& 



i til* 



Copyright, 1896 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London 



Ube mnicfcevbocber pvcss, mew IBorft 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



IRVING has been called "the Addison of Am- 
erican literature," and the fame secured for 
the purely literary essays which have been compared 
to the papers in the " Spectator " and the " Tatler," 
and the reputation which came later for his great 
historical biographies, the lives of Columbus, Ma- 
homet and Washington, have thrown somewhat 
into the shade his skill as a teller of stories. It 
seems desirable, therefore, to remind the present 
generation, and especially the younger readers who 
may think of the works of Washington Irving as 
belonging to the classics of their grandfathers and 
as containing nothing of interest for them, that 
these writings include not a few stirring and dram- 
atic stories, which will be found good reading for 
young and old. 

These stories are, like all that Irving wrote, ex- 
cellent examples of good English style, the nar- 
rative being simple, graphic and picturesque and 



iv Publishers' Note. 

the character studies life-like and consistent to their 
surroundings. The account of the exciting voyage 
of Dolph Heyliger from Hoboken to Albany, the 
legend connecting Kidd the Pirate with Gibbet 
Island (whence the statue of Liberty now domi- 
nates the harbor), the encounter of Tom Walker 
with the Devil, the fortunes of Wolfert Webber 
and his cabbage fields, the adventures in Kentucky 
and Florida of Ralph Ringwood, and the dramatic 
career of Philip of Pokanoket, are all narrated with 
strict fidelity to the possibilities of history or to the 
consistency of legend, and in such manner as to 
present faithful pictures of the manner of life and 
thought of our ancestors or predecessors, while 
they are also characterized by the genial and grace- 
ful humor which was part of the nature of their 
author. 

During the past few years there has been an 
increasing use of Irving's writings in classes of 
literature. In the preparation of the present vol- 
ume, the publishers have had in view the require- 
ments of such classes, (and particularly perhaps of 
the younger students), to whom these sketches can 
safely be commended as models of the best English 
style and as excellent examples of the art of story- 
telling. 

New York, September, i8g6. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

y Dolph Heyliger I 

The Legend of the Storm-Ship . . . -59 

* Kidd the Pirate ioo 

^The Devil and Tom Walker 109 

Rip Van Winkle 129 

' The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 155 

J Philip of Pokanoket 204 

/The Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood . . 230 

/The Phantom Island 281 

\j The Adalantado of the Seven Cities . . . 285 






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ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 



" He was Scrambling up a Tree, when I Shot him 

THROUGH THE B RE AST " . . . Frontispiece 

" They Found the Doctor Seated in an Elbow- 
Chair" 8 

" Then, Hanging his Hat on a Peg beside the 

Door, he Sat down " 30 

The Arrest of Captain Kidd 104 

" Let that Skull Alone ! " . . . . .112 

" He Was a Great Favorite among All the Chil- 
dren of the Village " . . . . 130 
" A Tart Temper Never Mellows with Age" . 134 
" A Club of Sages, Philosophers, and Other Idle 

Personages of the Village " 136 

" His Companion Made Signs to him to Wait on 
the Company — He Obeyed with Fear and 

Trembling " 140 

" ' My Very Dog,' Sighed Poor Rip, ' has Forgotten 

me.' " 144 

" Rip's Story was Soon Told " 150 

" Ichabod Crane's Scholars Certainly were Not 

Spoiled" 160 

" He was Boarded and Lodged at the Houses of 

the Farmers whose Children he Instructed " 162 



VII 



viii Illustrations. 



" In the Meantime, Ichabod would Carry on his 

Suit under the Great Elm " . . . .176 

" Ichabod Prided himself as Much upon his Danc- 
ing, as upon his Vocal Powers " . . .186 

" The Hair of the Affrighted Pedagogue Rose 

upon his Head with Terror " . . . . 196 

" Away they Dashed, Stones Flying, and Sparks 

Flashing at Every Bound " 198 

The Capture of Canonchet ..... 222 

" He was Scrambling up a Tree, when I Shot him 

THROUGH THE BREAST " . . . . . 250 

" A High Quarrel Ensued ",,,.. 290 




STORIES AND LEGENDS FROM IRVING 



STORIES AND LEGENDS FROM 
IRVING. 



DOLPH HEYLIGER. 

' ' I take the town of concord, where I dwell, 
All Kilborn be my witness, if I were not 
Begot in bashfulness, brought up in shamefacedness. 
Let 'un bring a dog but to my vace that can 
Zay I have beat 'un, and without a vault ; 
Or but a cat will swear upon a book, 
I have as much as zet a vire her tail, 
And I'll give him or her a crown for 'mends." 

Tale of a Tub. 

IN the early time of the province of New York, 
while it groaned under the tyranny of the 
English governor, Lord Cornbury, who carried 
his cruelties towards the Dutch inhabitants so 
far as to allow no Dominie, or schoolmaster, 
to officiate in their language without his special 
license ; about this time there lived in the jolly little 
old city of the Manhattoes a kind motherly dame, 
known by the name of Dame Heyliger. She was 



2 Washington Irving. 

the widow of a Dutch sea-captain, who died sud- 
denly of a fever, in consequence of working too 
hard, and eating too heartily, at the time when all 
the inhabitants turned out in a panic, to fortify the 
place against the invasion of a small French priva- 
teer.* He left her with very little money, and 
one infant son, the only survivor of several chil- 
dren. The good woman had need of much manage- 
ment to make both ends meet, and keep up a 
decent appearance. However, as her husband had 
fallen a victim to his zeal for the public safety, it 
was universally agreed that "something ought to 
be done for the widow ; " and on the hopes of this 
"something" she lived tolerably for some years; 
in the meantime everybody pitied and spoke well 
of her, and that helped along. 

She lived in a small house, in a small street called 
Garden Street, very probably from a garden which 
may have florished there some time or other. As 
her necessities every year grew greater, and the 
talk of the public about doing " something for her" 
grew less, she had to cast about for some mode of 
doing something for herself, by way of helping out 
her slender means, and maintaining her indepen- 
dence, of which she was somewhat tenacious. 

Living in a mercantile town, she had caught 
something of the spirit, and determined to venture 
a little in the great lottery of commerce. On a 

* 1705. 



Dolph Heyliger. 3 

sudden, therefore, to the great surprise of the 
street, there appeared at her window a grand array 
of gingerbread kings and queens, with their arms 
stuck akimbo, after the invariable royal manner. 
There were also several broken tumblers, some 
filled with sugar-plums, some with marbles ; there 
were, moreover, cakes of various kinds, and barley- 
sugar, and Holland dolls, and wooden horses, with 
here and there gilt-covered picture-books, and now 
and then a skein of thread, or a dangling pound 
of candles. At the door of the house sat the good 
old dame's cat, a decent demure-looking personage, 
who seemed to scan everybody that passed, to 
criticize their dress, and now and then to stretch 
her neck, and to look out with sudden curiosity, 
to see what was going on at the other end of the 
street ; but if by chance any idle vagabond dog 
came by, and offered to be uncivil— hoity-toity !— 
how she would bristle up, and growl, and spit, and 
strike out her paws ! she was as indignant as ever 
was an ancient and ugly spinster on the approach 
of some graceless profligate. 

But though the good woman had to come down 
to those humble means of subsistence, yet she still 
kept up a feeling of family pride, being descended 
from the Vanderspiegels, of Amsterdam ; and she 
had the family arms painted and framed, and hung 
over her mantelpiece. She was, in truth, much 
respected by all the poorer people of the place ; 



4 Washington Irving. 

her house was quite a resort of the old wives of 
the neighborhood ; they would drop in there of a 
winter's afternoon, as she sat knitting on one side 
of her fireplace, her cat purring on the other, and 
the tea-kettle singing before it ; and they would 
gossip with her until late in the evening. There 
was always an arm-chair for Peter de Groodt, 
sometimes called Long Peter, and sometimes Peter 
Longlegs, the clerk and sexton of the little Luth- 
eran church, who was her great crony, and indeed 
the oracle of her fireside. Nay, the Dominie him- 
self did not disdain, now and then, to step in, con- 
verse about the state of her mind, and take a glass 
of her special good cherry-brandy. Indeed, he 
never failed to call on New- Year's day, and wish 
her a happy New Year ; and the good dame, who 
was a little vain on some points, always piqued her- 
self on giving him as large a cake as anyone in town, 
I have said that she had one son. He was the 
child of her old age ; but could hardly be called 
the comfort, for, of all unlucky urchins, Dolph 
Heyliger was the most mischievous. Not that the 
whipster was really vicious ; he was only full of 
fun and frolic, and had that daring, gamesome 
spirit which is extolled in a rich man's child, but 
execrated in a poor man's. He was continually get- 
ting into scrapes ; his mother was incessantly har- 
assed with complaints of some waggish pranks which 
he had played off ; bills were sent in for windows 



Dolph Heyliger. 5 

that he had broken ; in a word, he had not reached 
his fourteenth year before he was pronounced, by 
all the neighborhood, to be a " wicked dog, the 
wickedest dog in the street ! " Nay, one old gentle- 
man, in a claret-colored coat, with a thin red face, 
and ferret eyes, went so far as to assure Dame 
Heyliger, that her son would, one day or other, 
come to the gallows ! 

Yet, notwithstanding all this, the poor old soul 
loved her boy. It seemed as though she loved 
him the better the worse he behaved, and that he 
grew more in her favor the more he grew out of 
favor with the world. Mothers are foolish, fond- 
hearted beings ; there 's no reasoning them out of 
their dotage ; and, indeed, this poor woman's child 
was all that was left to love her in this world ; — so 
we must not think it hard that she turned a deaf 
ear to her good friends, who sought to prove to 
her that Dolph would come to a halter. 

To do the varlet justice, too, he was strongly 
attached to his parent. He would not willingly 
have given her pain on any account ; and when he 
had been doing wrong, it was but for him to catch 
his poor mother's eye fixed wistfully and sorrowfully 
upon him, to fill his heart with bitterness and con- 
trition. But he was a heedless youngster, and 
could not, for the life of him, resist any new temp- 
tation to fun and mischief. Though quick at his 
learning, whenever he could be brought to apply 



6 Washington Irving. 

himself, he was always prone to be led away by idle 
company, and would play truant to hunt after birds'- 
nests, to rob orchards, or to swim in the Hudson. 

In this way he grew up, a tall, lubberly boy ; and 
his mother began to be greatly perplexed what to 
do with him, or how to put him in a way to do for 
himself; for he had acquired such an unlucky 
reputation, that no one seemed willing to employ 
him. 

Many were the consultations, that she held with 
Peter de Groodt, the clerk and sexton, who was 
her prime counsellor. Peter was as much perplexed 
as herself, for he had no great opinion of the boy, 
and thought he would never come to good. He 
at once advised her to send him to sea : a piece of 
advice only given in the most desperate cases ; but 
Dame Heyliger would not listen to such an idea ; she 
could not think of letting Dolph go out of her sight. 
She was sitting one day knitting by her fireside, in 
great perplexity, when the sexton entered with an 
air of unusual vivacity and briskness. He had just 
come from a funeral. It had been that of a boy of 
Dolph's years, who had been apprentice to a famous 
German doctor, and had died of a consumption. 
It is true, there had been a whisper that the deceased 
had been brought to his end by being made a sub- 
ject of the doctor's experiments, on which he was 
apt to try the effects of a new compound, or a 
quieting draught. This, however, it is likely, was 



Dolph Heyliger. 7 

a mere scandal ; at any rate, Peter de Groodt did 
not think it worth mentioning ; though, had we 
time to philosophize, it would be a curious matter 
for speculation, why a doctor's family is apt to be 
so lean and cadaverous, and a butcher's so jolly 
and rubicund. 

Peter de Groodt, as I said before, entered the 
house of Dame Heyliger with unusual alacrity. A 
bright idea had popped into his head at the funeral, 
over which he had chuckled as he shovelled the 
earth into the grave of the doctor's disciple. It 
had occurred to him, that, as the situation of the 
deceased was vacant at the doctor's, it would be the 
very place for Dolph. The boy had parts, and 
could pound a pestle, and run an errand with any 
boy in the town ; and what more was wanted in a 
student ? 

The suggestion of the sage Peter was a vision of 
glory to the mother. She already saw Dolph, in 
her mind's eye, with a cane at his nose, a knocker 
at his door, and an M.D. at the end of his name, 
— one of the established dignitaries of the town. 

The matter, once undertaken, was soon effected ; 
the sexton had some influence with the doctor, they 
having had much dealing together in the way of 
their separate professions ; and the very .next morn- 
ing he called and conducted the urchin, clad in his 
Sunday clothes, to undergo the inspection of Dr. 
Karl Lodovick Knipperhausen. 



8 Washington Irving. 

They found the doctor seated in an elbow-chair, 
in one corner of his study, or laboratory, with a 
large volume, in German print, before him. He 
was a short fat man, with a dark square face, ren- 
dered more dark by a black velvet cap. He had a 
little nobbed nose, not unlike the ace of spades, 
with a pair of spectacles gleaming on each side 
of his dusky countenance, like a couple of bow- 
windows. 

Dolph felt struck with awe on entering into the 
presence of this learned man ; and gazed about 
him with boyish wonder at the furniture of this 
chamber of knowledge ; which appeared to him 
almost as the den of a magician. In the centre 
stood a claw-footed table, with pestle and mortar, 
phials and gallipots, and a pair of small burnished 
scales. At one end was a heavy clothes-press, 
turned into a receptacle for drugs and compounds ; 
against which hung the doctor's hat and cloak, and 
gold-headed cane, and on the top grinned a human 
skull. Along the mantelpiece were glass vessels, 
in which were snakes and lizards, and a human 
foetus preserved in spirits. A closet, the doors of 
which were taken off, contained three whole shelves 
of books, and some, too, of mighty folio dimen- 
sions, — a collection the like of which Dolph had 
never before beheld. As, however, the library did 
not take up the whole of the closet, the doctor s 
thrifty housekeeper had occupied the rest with pots 




"they found the doctor seated in an elbow-chair." 



Dolph Heyliger. 9 

of pickles and preserves; and had hung about the 
room, among awful implements of the healing art, 
strings of red pepper and corpulent cucumbers, 
carefully preserved for seed. 

Peter De Groodt and his protege* were received 
with great gravity and stateliness by the doctor, 
who was a very wise, dignified little man, and never 
smiled. He surveyed Dolph from head to foot, 
above, and under, and through his spectacles, and 
the poor lad's heart quailed as these great glasses 
glared on him like two full moons. The doctor 
heard all that Peter de Groodt had to say in favor 
of the youthful candidate ; and then wetting his 
thumb with the end of his tongue, he began delib- 
erately to turn over page after page of the great 
black volume before him. At length, after many 
hums and haws, and strokings of the chin, and all 
that hesitation and deliberation with which a wise 
man proceeds to do what he intended to do from 
the very first, the doctor agreed to take the lad as 
a disciple ; to give him bed, board, and clothing, 
and to instruct him in the healing art ; in return 
for which he was to have his services until his 
twenty-first year. 

Behold, then, our hero, all at once transformed 
from an unlucky urchin running wild about the 
streets, to a student of medicine, diligently pound- 
ing a pestle, under the auspices of the learned 
Doctor Karl Lodovick Knipperhausen. It was a 



io Washington Irving. 

happy transition for his fond old mother. She was 
delighted with the idea of her boy's being brought 
up worthy of his ancestors ; and anticipated the 
day when he would be able to hold up his head 
with the lawyer, that lived in the large house oppo- 
site ; or, peradventure, w T ith the Dominie himself. 

Doctor Knipperhausen was a native of the Pala- 
tinate in Germany ; whence, in company with many 
of his countrymen, he had taken refuge in Eng- 
land, on account of religious persecution. He was 
one of nearly three thousand Palatines, who came 
over from England in 1710, under the protection 
of Governor Hunter. Where the doctor had stud- 
ied, how he had acquired his medical knowledge, 
and where he had received his diploma, it is hard 
at present to say, for nobody knew at the time ; 
yet it is certain that his profound skill and abstruse 
knowledge were the talk and wonder of the com- 
mon people, far and near. 

His practice was totally different from that of 
any other physician, — consisting in mysterious com- 
pounds, known only to himself, in the preparing 
and administering of which, it was said, he always 
consulted the stars. So high an opinion was en- 
tertained of his skill, particularly by the German 
and Dutch inhabitants, that they always resorted 
to him in desperate cases. He was one of those 
infallible doctors that are always effecting sudden 
and surprising cures, when the patient has been 



Dolph Heyliger. n 

given up by all the regular physicians ; unless, as 
is shrewdly observed, the case has been left too 
long before it was put into their hands. The doc- 
tor's library was the talk and marvel of the neigh- 
borhood, I might almost say of the entire burgh. 
The good people looked with reverence at a man 
who had read three whole shelves full of books, 
and some of them, too, as large as a family Bible. 
There were many disputes among the members of 
the little Lutheran church, as to which was the 
wisest man, the doctor or the Dominie. Some 
of his admirers even went so far as to say, that 
he knew more than the governor himself,— in a 
word, it was thought that there was no end to his 
knowledge ! 

No sooner was Dolph received into the doctors 
family, than he was put in possession of the lodg- 
ing of his predecessor. It was a garret-room of a 
steep-roofed Dutch house, where the rain had pat- 
tered on the shingles, and the lightning gleamed, 
and the wind piped through the crannies in stormy 
weather ; and where whole troops of hungry rats, 
like Don Cossacks, galloped about, in defiance of 
traps and ratsbane. 

He was soon up to his ears in medical studies, 
being employed, morning, noon, and night, in roll- 
ing pills, filtering tinctures, or pounding the pestle 
and mortar in one corner of the laboratory ; while 
the doctor would take his seat in another corner, 



12 Washington Irving. 

when he had nothing else to do, or expected visi- 
tors, and arrayed in his morning-gown and velvet 
cap, would pore over the contents of some folio 
volume. It is true, that the regular thumping of 
Dolph's pestle, or, perhaps, the drowsy buzzing of 
the summer-flies, would now and then lull the lit- 
tle man into a slumber ; but then his spectacles 
were always wide awake, and studiously regarding 
the book. 

There was another personage in the house, how- 
ever, to whom Dolph was obliged to pay allegiance. 
Though a bachelor, and a man of such great dig- 
nity and importance, the doctor was, like many 
other wise men, subject to petticoat government. 
He was completely under the sway of his house- 
keeper,— a spare, busy, fretting housewife, in a 
little, round, quilted German cap, with a huge bunch 
of keys jingling at the girdle of an exceedingly 
long waist. Frau Use* (or Frow Ilsy, as it was pro- 
nounced) had accompanied him in his various mi- 
grations from Germany to England, and from 
England to the province ; managing his establish- 
ment and himself too : ruling him, it is true, with 
a gentle hand, but carrying a high hand with all 
the world beside. How she had acquired such 
ascendancy I do not pretend to say. People, it is 
true, did talk— but have not people been prone to 
talk ever since the world began ? Who can tell 
how women generally contrive to get the upper- 



Dolph Heyliger. 13 

hand ? A husband, it is true, may now and then 
be master in his own house ; but who ever knew a 
bachelor that was not managed by his housekeeper ? 

Indeed, Frau Ilsy's power was not confined to 
the doctor's household. She was one of those pry- 
ing gossips who know every one's business better 
than they do themselves ; and whose all-seeing 
eyes, and all-telling tongues, are terrors through a 
neighborhood. 

Nothing of any moment transpired in the world 
of scandal of this little burgh, but it was known to 
Frau Ilsy. She had her crew of cronies, that were 
perpetually hurrying to her little parlor with some 
precious bit of news ; nay, she would sometimes 
discuss a whole volume of secret history, as she 
held the street-door ajar, and gossiped with one of 
these garrulous cronies in the very teeth of a De- 
cember blast. 

Between the doctor and the housekeeper it may 
easily be supposed that Dolph had a busy life of it. 
As Frau Ilsy kept the keys, and literally ruled the 
roast, it was starvation to offend her, though he 
found the study of her temper more perplexing even 
than that of medicine. When not busy in the la- 
boratory, she kept him running hither and thither 
on her errands ; and on Sundays he was obliged to 
accompany her to and from church, and carry her 
Bible. Many a time has the poor varlet stood 
shivering and blowing his fingers, or holding his 



H Washington Irving. 

frost-bitten nose, in the church-yard, while Ilsy and 
her cronies were huddled together, wagging their 
heads, and tearing some unlucky character to pieces. 

With all his advantages, however, Dolph made 
very slow progress in his art. This was no fault 
of the doctors, certainly, for he took unwearied 
pains with the lad, keeping him close to the pestle 
and mortar, or on the trot about the town with 
phials and pill-boxes ; and if he ever flagged in his 
industry, which he was rather apt to do, the doctor 
would fly into a passion, and ask him if he ever ex- 
pected to learn his profession, unless he applied him- 
self closer to the study. The fact is, he still retained 
the fondness for sport and mischief that had marked 
his childhood ; the habit, indeed, had strengthened 
with his years, and gained force from being thwarted 
and constrained. He daily grew more and more 
untractable, and lost favor in the eyes, both of the 
doctor and the housekeeper. 

In the meantime the doctor went on, waxing 
wealthy and renowned. He was famous for his 
skill in managing cases not laid down in the books. 
He had cured several old women and young girls 
of witchcraft, — a terrible complaint, and nearly as 
prevalent in the province in those days as hydro- 
phobia is at present. He had even restored one 
strapping country-girl to perfect health, who had 
gone so far as to vomit crooked pins and needles ; 
which is considered a desperate stage of the malady. 



Dolph Heyliger. 15 

It was whispered, also, that he was possessed of the 
art of preparing love-powders ; and many applica- 
tions had he in consequence from love-sick patients 
of both sexes. But all these cases formed the mys- 
terious part of his practice, in which, according to 
the cant phrase, " secrecy and honor might be de- 
pended on." Dolph, therefore, was obliged to turn 
out of the study whenever such consultations oc- 
curred, though it is said he learnt more of the 
secrets of the art at the key-hole than by all the 
rest of his studies put together. 

As the doctor increased in wealth, he began to 
extend his possessions, and to look forward, like 
other great men, to the time when he should retire 
to the repose of a country-seat. For this purpose 
he had purchased a farm, or, as the Dutch settlers 
called it, a bowerie, a few miles from town. It had 
been the residence of a wealthy family, that had 
returned some time since to Holland. A large 
mansion-house stood in the centre of it, very much 
out of repair, and which, in consequence of certain 
reports, had received the appellation of the Haunted 
House. Either from these reports, or from its 
actual dreariness, the doctor found it impossible to 
get a tenant ; and that the place might not fall to 
ruin before he could reside in it himself, he placed 
a country boor, with his family, in one wing, with 
the privilege of cultivating the farm on shares. 

The doctor now felt all the dignity of a landholder 



1 6 Washington Irving. 

rising within him. He had a little of the German 
pride of territory in his composition, and almost 
looked upon himself as owner of a principality. 
He began to complain of the fatigue of business ; 
and was fond of riding out " to look at his estate." 
His little expeditions to his lands were attended 
with a bustle and parade that created a sensation 
throughout the neighborhood. His wall-eyed horse 
stood, stamping and whisking off the flies, for a 
full hour before the house. Then the doctor's sad- 
dle-bags would be brought out and adjusted ; then, 
after a little while, his cloak would be rolled up 
and strapped to the saddle ; then his umbrella 
would be buttoned to the cloak ; while, in the 
meantime, a group of ragged boys, that observant 
class of beings, would gather before the door. At 
length the doctor would issue forth, in a pair of 
jack-boots that reached above his knees, and a cocked 
hat flapped down in front. As he was a short, fat 
man, he took some time to mount into the saddle > 
and when there, he took some time to have the 
saddle and stirrups properly adjusted, enjoying the 
wonder and admiration of the urchin crowd. Even 
after he had set off, he would pause in the middle 
of the street, or trot back two or three times to 
give some parting orders ; which were answered by 
the housekeeper from the door, or Dolph from the 
study, or the black cook from the cellar, or the 
chambermaid from the garret-window ; and there 



Dolph Heyliger. 17 

were generally some last words bawled after him, 
just as he was turning the corner. 

The whole neighborhood would be aroused by 
this pomp and circumstance. The cobbler would 
leave his last ; the barber would thrust out his 
frizzled head, with a comb sticking in it ; a knot 
would collect at the grocer's door, and the word 
would be buzzed from one end of the street to the 
other, " The doctor's riding out to his country-seat ! " 

These were golden moments for Dolph. No 
sooner was the doctor out of sight, than pestle and 
mortar were abandoned ; the laboratory was left 
to take care of itself, and the student was off on 
some madcap frolic. 

Indeed, it must be confessed, the youngster, as 
he grew up, seemed in a fair way to fulfil the pre- 
diction of the old claret-colored gentleman. He 
was the ringleader of all holiday sports and mid- 
night gambols ; ready for all kinds of mischievous 
pranks and hair-brained adventures. 

There is nothing so troublesome as a hero on a 
small scale, or rather, a hero in a small town. 
Dolph soon became the abhorrence of all drowsy, 
housekeeping old citizens, who hated noise, and 
had no relish for waggery. The good dames, too, 
considered him as little better than a reprobate, 
gathered their daughters under their wings when- 
ever he approached, and pointed him out as a 
warning to their sons. No one seemed to hold 



1 8 Washington Irving. 

him in much regard except the wild striplings of 
the place, who were captivated by his open-hearted, 
daring manners, — and the negroes, who always 
looked upon every idle, do nothing youngster as a 
kind of gentleman. Even the good Peter de 
Groodt, who had considered himself a kind of 
patron of the lad, began to despair of him ; and 
would shake his head dubiously, as he listened to a 
long complaint from the housekeeper, and sipped a 
glass of her raspberry brandy. 

Still his mother was not to be wearied out of 
her affection by all the waywardness of her boy ; 
nor disheartened by the stories of his misdeeds, 
with which her good friends were continually regal- 
ing hen She had, it is true, very little of the pleas- 
ure which rich people enjoy, in always hearing their 
children praised ; but she considered all this ill-will 
as a kind of persecution which he suffered, and she 
liked him the better on that account. She saw him 
growing up a fine, tall, good-looking youngster, 
and she looked at him with the secret pride of a 
mothers heart. It was her great desire that Dolph 
should appear like a gentleman, and all the money 
she could save went towards helping out his pocket 
and his wardrobe. She would look out of the win- 
dow after him, as he sallied forth in his best array, 
and her heart would yearn with delight : and once, 
when Peter de Groodt, struck with the youngster's 
gallant appearance on a bright Sunday morning, 



Dolph Heyliger. 19 

observed, "Well, after all, Dolph does grow a 
comely fellow !" the tear of pride started into the 
mother's eye. " Ah, neighbor ! neighbor ! " ex- 
claimed she, " they may say what they please ; poor 
Dolph will yet hold up his head with the best of 
them ! " 

Dolph Heyliger had now nearly attained his 
one-and-twentieth year, and the term of his medical 
studies was just expiring ; yet it must be confessed 
that he knew little more of the profession than 
when he first entered the doctor's doors. This, 
however, could not be from any want of quickness 
of parts, for he showed amazing aptness in master- 
ing other branches of knowledge, which he could 
only have studied at intervals. He was, for in- 
stance, a sure marksman, and won all the geese and 
turkeys at Christmas holidays. He was a bold 
rider ; he was famous for leaping and wrestling ; 
he played tolerably on the fiddle ; could swim like 
a fish ; and was the best hand in the whole place at 
fives and nine-pins. 

All these accomplishments, however, procured 
him no favor in the eyes of the doctor, who grew 
more and more crabbed and intolerant the nearer 
the term of apprenticeship approached. Frau Ilsy, 
too, was forever finding some occasion to raise a 
windy tempest about his ears, and seldom encoun- 
tered him about the house without a clatter of the 
tongue ; so that at length the jingling of her keys, 



20 Washington Irving. 

as she approached, was to Dolph like the ringing 
of the prompter s bell, that gives notice of a theat- 
rical thunder-storm. Nothing but the infinite good- 
humor of the heedless youngster enabled him to 
bear all this domestic tyranny without open rebel- 
lion. It was evident that the doctor and his house- 
keeper were preparing to beat the poor youth out 
of the nest, the moment his term should have ex- 
pired, — a short-hand mode which the doctor had 
of providing for useless disciples. 

Indeed the little man had been rendered more 
than usually irritable lately in consequence of vari- 
ous cares and vexations which his country estate 
had brought upon him. The doctor had been re- 
peatedly annoyed by the rumors and tales which 
prevailed concerning the old mansion, and found it 
difficult to prevail even upon the country-man and 
his family to remain there rent-free. Every time 
he rode out to the farm he was teased by some 
fresh complaint of strange noises and fearful sights, 
with which the tenants were disturbed at night ; 
and the doctor would come home fretting and fum- 
ing, and vent his spleen upon the whole household. 
It was indeed a sore grievance that affected him 
both in pride and purse. He was threatened with 
an absolute loss of the profits of his property ; and 
then, what a blow to his territorial consequence, to 
be the landlord of a haunted house ! 

It was observed, however, that with all his vexa- 



Dolph Heyliger. 21 

tion, the doctor never proposed to sleep in the 
house himself; nay, he could never be prevailed 
upon to remain on the premises after dark, but 
made the best of his way for town as soon as the 
bats began to flit about in the twilight. The fact 
was, the doctor had a secret belief in ghosts, hav- 
ing passed the early part of his life in a country 
where they particularly abound ; and indeed the 
story went, that, when a boy, he had once seen the 
devil upon the Hartz Mountains in Germany. 

At length the doctors vexations on this head 
were brought to a crisis. One morning as he sat 
dozing over a volume in his study, he was suddenly 
startled from his slumbers by the bustling in of the 
housekeeper. 

" Here 's a fine to do ! " cried she, as she entered 
the room. " Here 's Claus Hopper come in, bag 
and baggage, from the farm, and swears he '11 have 
nothing more to do with it. The whole family 
have been frightened out of their wits ; for there *s 
such racketing and rummaging about the old 
house, that they can't sleep quiet in their beds ! " 

" Donner and blitzen ! " cried the doctor, impa- 
tiently ; "will they never have done chattering 
about that house ? What a pack of fools, to let a 
few rats and mice frighten them out of good 
quarters ! " 

"Nay, nay," said the housekeeper, wagging her 
head knowingly, and piqued at having a good 



22 Washington Irving. 

ghost-story doubted, " there 's more in it than rats 
and mice. All the neighborhood talks about the 
house ; and then such sights as have been seen in 
it ! Peter de Groodt tells me, that the family that 
sold you the house, and went to Holland, dropped 
several strange hints about it, and said, ' they 
wished you joy of your bargain ; ' and you know 
yourself there *s no getting any family to live in it." 

" Peter de Groodt 's a ninny — an old woman," 
said the doctor, peevishly ; " I '11 warrant he 's been 
filling these people's heads full of stories. It 's just 
like his nonsense about the ghost that haunted the 
church-belfry, as an excuse for not ringing the bell 
that cold night when Harmanus Brinkerhoff's house 
was on fire. Send Claus to me." 

Claus Hopper now made his appearance ; a sim- 
ple country lout, full of awe at finding himself in 
the very study of Dr. Knipperhausen, and too much 
embarrassed to enter in much detail of the matters 
that had caused his alarm. He stood twirling his 
hat in one hand, resting sometimes on one leg, 
sometimes on the other, looking occasionally at the 
doctor, and now and then stealing a fearful glance 
at the death's-head that seemed ogling him from 
the top of the clothes-press. 

The doctor tried every means to persuade him to 
return to the farm, but all in vain ; he maintained 
a dogged determination on the subject ; and at the 
close of every argument or solicitation would make 



Dolph Heyliger. 23 

the same brief, inflexible reply, " Ich kan nicht, 
mynheer." The doctor was a " little pot, and soon 
hot " ; his patience was exhausted by these continual 
vexations about his estate. The stubborn refusal 
of Claus Hopper seemed to him like flat rebellion ; 
his temper suddenly boiled over, and Claus was 
glad to make a rapid retreat to escape scalding. 

When the bumpkin got to the housekeeper's 
room, he found Peter de Groodt, and several other 
true believers, ready to receive him. Here he in- 
demnified himself for the restraint he had suffered 
in the study, and opened a budget of stories about 
the haunted house that astonished all his hearers. 
The housekeeper believed them all, if it was only 
to spite the doctor for having received her intelli- 
gence so uncourteously. Peter de Groodt matched 
them with many a wonderful legend of the times 
of the Dutch dynasty, and of the Devil's Stepping- 
stones ; and of the pirate hanged at Gibbet Island, 
that continued to swing there at night long after 
the gallows was taken down ; and of the ghost of 
the unfortunate Governor Leisler, hanged for trea- 
son, which haunted the old fort and the govern- 
ment-house. The gossiping knot dispersed, each 
charged with direful intelligence. The sexton dis- 
burdened himself at a vestry meeting that was 
held that very day, and the black cook forsook her 
kitchen, and spent half the day at the street-pump, 
that gossiping-place for servants, dealing forth the 



24 Washington Irving. 

news to all that came for water. In a little time 
the whole town was in a buzz with tales about the 
haunted house. Some said that Claus Hopper had 
seen the devil, while others hinted that the house 
was haunted by the ghosts of some of the patients 
whom the doctor had physicked out of the world, 
and that was the reason why he did not venture to 
live in it himself. 

All this put the little doctor in a terrible fume. 
He threatened vengeance on any one who should 
affect the value of his property by exciting popular 
prejudices. He complained loudly of thus being 
in a manner dispossessed of his territories by mere 
bugbears ; but he secretly determined to have the 
house exorcised by the Dominie. Great was his 
relief, therefore, when in the midst of his perplexi- 
ties, Dolph stepped forward and undertook to 
garrison the haunted house. The youngster had 
been listening to all the stories of Claus Hopper 
and Peter de Groodt : he was fond of adventure, 
he loved the marvellous, and his imagination had 
become quite excited by these tales of wonder. 
Besides, he had led such an uncomfortable life at 
the doctor's, being subjected to the intolerable 
thraldom of early hours, that he was delighted at 
the prospect of having a house to himself, even 
though it should be a haunted one. His offer was 
eagerly accepted, and it was determined he should 
mount guard that very night. His only stipulation 



Dolph Heyliger. 25 

was, that the enterprise should be kept secret from 
his mother ; for he knew the poor soul would not 
sleep a wink if she knew her son was waging war 
with the powers of darkness. 

When night came on he set out on this perilous 
expedition. The old black cook, his only friend 
in the household, had provided him with a little 
mess for supper, and a rush-light ; and she tied 
round his neck an amulet, given her by an African 
conjurer, as a charm against evil spirits. Dolph 
was escorted on his way by the doctor and Peter 
de Groodt, who had agreed to accompany him to 
the house, and to see him safe lodged. The night 
was overcast, and it was very dark when they 
arrived at the grounds which surrounded the man- 
sion. The sexton led the way with the lantern. 
As they walked along the avenue of acacias, the 
fitful light, catching from bush to bush, and tree to 
tree, often startled the doughty Peter and made 
him fall back upon his followers ; and the doctor 
grappled still closer hold of Dolph's arm, observing 
that the ground was very slippery and uneven. 
At one time they were nearly put to total rout 
by a bat, which came flitting about the lantern ; 
and the notes of the insects from the trees, and 
the frogs from a neighboring pond, formed a most 
drowsy and doleful concert. The front door of 
the mansion opened with a grating sound that 
made the doctor turn pale. They entered a toler- 



26 Washington Irving. 

ably large hall, such as is common in American 
country-houses, and which serves for a sitting-room 
in warm weather. From this they went up a wide 
staircase, that groaned and creaked as they trod, 
every step making its particular note, like the key 
of a harpsichord. This led to another hall on the 
second story, whence they entered the room where 
Dolph was to sleep. It was large, and scantily 
furnished; the shutters were closed; but as they 
were much broken, there was no want of a circula- 
tion of air. It appeared to have been that sacred 
chamber, known among Dutch housewives by the 
name of " the best bedroom ; " which is the best 
furnished room in the house, but in which scarce 
anybody is ever permitted to sleep. Its splendor, 
however, was all at an end. There were a few bro- 
ken articles of furniture about the room, and in the 
centre stood a heavy deal table and a large arm- 
chair, both of which had the look of being coeval 
with the mansion. The fireplace was wide, and 
had been faced with Dutch tiles, representing 
Scripture stories ; but some of them had fallen out 
of their places, and lay scattered about the hearth. 
The sexton lit the rush-light ; and the doctor, look- 
ing fearfully about the room, was just exhorting 
Dolph to be of good cheer, and to pluck up a stout 
heart, when a noise in the chimney, like voices and 
struggling, struck a sudden panic into the sexton. 
He took to his heels with the lantern ; the doctor 



Dolph Heyliger. 27 

followed hard after him ; the stairs groaned and 
creaked as they hurried down, increasing their agi- 
tation and speed by its noise. The front door 
slammed after them ; and Dolph heard them scrab- 
bling down the avenue, till the sound of their feet 
was lost in the distance. That he did not join in 
this precipitate retreat might have been owing to 
his possessing a little more courage than his com- 
panions, or perhaps that he had caught a glimpse 
of the cause of their dismay, in a nest of chimney- 
swallows, that came tumbling down into the fire- 
place. 

Being now left to himself, he secured the front 
door by a strong bolt and bar ; and having seen 
that the other entrances were fastened, returned to 
his desolate chamber. Having made his supper 
from the basket which the good old cook had pro- 
vided, he locked the chamber-door, and retired to 
rest on a mattress in one corner. The night was 
calm and still ; and nothing broke upon the pro- 
found quiet but the lonely chirping of a cricket 
from the chimney of a distant chamber. The rush- 
light, which stood in the centre of the deal table, 
shed a feeble yellow ray, dimly illumining the 
chamber and making uncouth shapes and shadows 
on the walls, from the clothes which Dolph had 
thrown over a chair. 

With all his boldness of heart, there was some- 
thing subduing in this desolate scene ; and he felt 



28 Washington Irving. 

his spirits flag within him, as he lay on his hard 
bed and gazed about the room. He was turning 
over in his mind his idle habits, his doubtful pros- 
pects, and now and then heaving a heavy sigh as 
he thought on his poor old mother ; for there is 
nothing like the silence and loneliness of night to 
bring dark shadows over the brightest mind. By 
and by he thought he heard a sound as of some 
one walking below stairs. He listened, and dis- 
tinctly heard a step on the great staircase. It ap- 
proached solemnly and slowly, tramp— tramp — 
tramp ! It was evidently the tread of some heavy 
personage ; and yet how could he have got into 
the house without making a noise? He had ex- 
amined all the fastenings, and was certain that 
every entrance was secure. Still the steps ad- 
vanced, tramp— tramp— tramp ! It was evident 
that the person approaching could not be a robber, 
the step was too loud and deliberate ; a robber 
would either be stealthy or precipitate. And now 
the footsteps had ascended the staircase ; they were 
slowly advancing along the passage, resounding 
through the silent and empty apartments. The 
very cricket had ceased its melancholy note, and 
nothing interrupted their awful distinctness. The 
door, which had been locked on the inside, slowly 
swung open, as if self-moved. The footsteps en- 
tered the room : but no one was to be seen. They 
passed slowly and audibly across it, tramp — tramp 



Dolph Heyliger. 29 

— tramp ! but whatever made the sound was in- 
visible. Dolph rubbed his eyes, and stared about 
him ; he could see to every part of the dimly-lighted 
chamber ; all was vacant ; yet he still heard those 
mysterious footsteps, solemnly walking about the 
chamber. They ceased, and all was dead silence. 
There was something more appalling in this invisi- 
ble visitation than there would have been in any- 
thing that addressed itself to the eyesight. It 
was awfully vague and indefinite. He felt his heart 
beat against his ribs ; a cold sweat broke out upon 
his forehead ; he lay for some time in a state of 
violent agitation ; nothing, however, occurred to 
increase his alarm. His light gradually burnt down 
into the socket, and he fell asleep. When he awoke 
it was broad daylight ; the sun was peering through 
the cracks of the window-shutters, and the birds 
were merrily singing about the house. The bright 
cheery day soon put to flight all the terrors of the 
preceding night. Dolph laughed, or rather tried 
to laugh, at all that had passed, and endeavored to 
persuade himself that it was a mere freak of the 
imagination, conjured up by the stories he had 
heard ; but he was a little puzzled to find the door 
of his room locked on the inside, notwithstanding 
that he had positively seen it swing open as the 
footsteps had entered. He returned to town in a 
state of considerable perplexity ; but he determined 
to say nothing on the subject, until his doubts were 



30 Washington Irving. 

either confirmed or removed by another night's 
watching. His silence was a grievous disappoint- 
ment to the gossips who had gathered at the doc- 
tor's mansion. They had prepared their minds to 
hear direful tales, and were almost in a rage at 
being assured he had nothing to relate. 

The next night, then, Dolph repeated his vigil. 
He now entered the house with some trepidation. 
He was particular in examining the fastenings of all 
the doors, and securing them well. He locked the 
door of his chamber, and placed a chair against it ; 
then having dispatched his supper, he threw him- 
self on his mattress and endeavored to sleep. It 
was all in vain ; a thousand crowding fancies kept 
him waking. The time slowly dragged on, as if 
minutes were spinning themselves out into hours. 
As the night advanced, he grew more and more 
nervous ; and he almost started from his couch 
when he heard the mysterious footstep again on 
the staircase. Up it came, as before, solemnly 
and slowly, tramp — tramp — tramp ! It approached 
along the passage ; the door again swung open, as 
if there had been neither lock nor impediment, and 
a strange-looking figure stalked into the room. It 
was an elderly man, large and robust, clothed in 
the old Flemish fashion. He had on a kind of 
short cloak, with a garment under it, belted round 
the waist ; trunk-hose, with great bunches or bows 
at the knees ; and a pair of russet boots, very large 




"then, hanging his hat on a peg beside the door, he 

SAT DOWN." 



Dolph Heyliger. 31 

at top, and standing widely from his legs. His 
hat was broad and slouched, with a feather trailing 
over one side. His iron-gray hair hung in thick 
masses on his neck ; and he had a short grizzled 
beard. He walked slowly round the room, as if 
examining that all was safe ; then, hanging his hat 
on a peg beside the door, he sat down in the 
elbow-chair, and, leaning his elbow on the table, 
fixed his eyes on Dolph with an unmoving and 
deadening stare. 

Dolph was not naturally a coward ; but he had 
been brought up in an implicit belief in ghosts and 
goblins. A thousand stories came swarming to 
his mind that he had heard about this building; 
and as he looked at this strange personage, with 
his uncouth garb, his pale visage, his grizzly 
beard, and his fixed, staring, fishlike eye, his teeth 
began to chatter, his hair to rise on his head, and 
a cold sweat to break out all over his body. How 
long he remained in this situation he could not tell, 
for he was like one fascinated. He could not take 
his gaze off from the spectre ; but lay staring at 
him, with his whole intellect absorbed in the con- 
templation. The old man remained seated behind 
the table, without stirring, or turning an eye, 
always keeping a dead steady glare upon Dolph. 
At length the household cock, from a neighboring 
farm, clapped his wings, and gave a loud cheerful 
crow that rung over the fields. At the sound the 



32 Washington Irving. 

old man slowly rose, and took down his hat from 
the peg ; the door opened, and closed after him ; 
he was heard to go slowly down the staircase, 
tramp — tramp— tramp ! — and when he had got to 
the bottom, all was again silent. Dolph lay and 
listened earnestly ; counted every footfall ; listened, 
and listened, if the steps should return, until, ex- 
hausted by watching and agitation, he fell into a 
troubled sleep. 

Daylight again brought fresh courage and assur- 
ance. He would fain have considered all that had 
passed as a mere dream ; yet there stood the chair 
in which the unknown had seated himself ; there 
was the table on which he had leaned ; there was 
the peg on which he had hung his hat ; and there 
was the door, locked precisely as he himself had 
locked it, with the chair placed against it. He 
hastened down-stairs, and examined the doors and 
windows ; all were exactly in the same state in 
which he had left them, and there was no apparent 
way by which any being could have entered and 
left the house, without leaving some trace behind. 
" Pooh ! " said Dolph to himself, " it was all a 
dream : " — but it would not do ; the more he 
endeavored to shake the scene off from his mind, 
the more it haunted him. 

Though he persisted in a strict silence as to all 
that he had seen or heard, yet his looks betrayed 
the uncomfortable night that he had passed. It 



Dolph Heyliger. 33 

was evident that there was something wonderful 
hidden under this mysterious reserve. The doctor 
took him into the study, locked the door, and 
sought to have a full and confidential communica- 
tion ; but he could get nothing out of him. Frau 
Ilsy took him aside into the pantry, but to as little 
purpose ; and Peter de Groodt held him by the 
button for a full hour, in the church-yard, the very 
place to get at the bottom of a ghost-story, but 
came off not a whit wiser than the rest It is al- 
ways the case, however, that one truth concealed 
makes a dozen current lies. It is like a guinea 
locked up in a bank, that has a dozen paper repre- 
sentatives. Before the day was over, the neighbor- 
hood was full of reports. Some said that Dolph 
Heyliger watched in the haunted house, with pistols 
loaded with silver bullets ; others, that he had a 
long talk with a spectre without a head ; others, 
that Doctor Knipperhausen and the sexton had 
been hunted down the Bowery lane, and quite into 
town, by a legion of ghosts of their customers. 
Some shook their heads, and thought it a shame 
the doctor should put Dolph to pass the night 
alone in that dismal house, where he might be 
spirited away no one knew whither ; while others 
observed, with a shrug, that if the devil did carry 
off the youngster, it would be but taking his own. 
These rumors at length reached the ears of the 
good Dame Heyliger, and, as may be supposed, 



34 Washington Irving. 

threw her into a terrible alarm. For her son to 
have opposed himself to danger from living foes, 
would have been nothing so dreadful in her eyes, 
as to dare alone the terrors of the haunted house. 
She hastened to the doctor's, and passed a great 
part of the day in attempting to dissuade Dolph 
from repeating his vigil ; she told him a score of 
tales, which her gossiping friends had just related 
to her, of persons who had been carried off, when 
watching alone in old ruinous houses. It was all 
to no effect. Dolph's pride, as well as curiosity, 
was piqued. He endeavored to calm the appre- 
hensions of his mother, and to assure her that there 
was no truth in all the rumors she had heard ; she 
looked at him dubiously and shook her head ; but 
finding his determination was not to be shaken, 
she brought him a little thick Dutch Bible, with 
brass clasps, to take with him, as a sword wherewith 
to fight the powers of darkness ; and, lest that 
might not be sufficient, the housekeeper gave him 
the Heidelberg catechism by way of dagger. 

The next night, therefore, Dolph took up his 
quarters for the third time in the old mansion. 
Whether dream or not, the same thing was repeated. 
Towards midnight, when everything was still, the 
same sound echoed through the empty halls, tramp 
— tramp — tramp ! The stairs were again ascended ; 
the door again swung open ; the old man entered ; 
walked round the room ; hung up his hat, and 



Dolph Heyliger. 35 

seated himself by the table. The same fear and 
trembling came over poor Dolph, though not in 
so violent a degree. He lay in the same way, 
motionless and fascinated, staring at the figure, 
which regarded him as before with a dead, fixed, 
chilling gaze. In this way they remained for a 
long time, till, by degrees, Dolph's courage began 
gradually to revive. Whether alive or dead, this 
being had certainly some object in his visitation ; 
and he recollected to have heard it said, spirits 
have no power to speak until spoken to. Summon- 
ing up resolution, therefore, and making two or 
three attempts, before he could get his parched 
tongue in motion, he addressed the unknown in the 
most solemn form of adjuration, and demanded to 
know what was the motive of his visit. 

No sooner had he finished, than the old man 
rose, took down his hat, the door opened, and he 
went out, looking back upon Dolph just as he 
crossed the threshold, as if expecting him to fol- 
low. The youngster did not hesitate an instant 
He took the candle in his hand, and the Bible 
under his arm, and obeyed the tacit invitation. 
The candle emitted a feeble, uncertain ray, but still 
he could see the figure before him slowly descend 
the stairs. He followed trembling. When it had 
reached the bottom of the stairs, it turned through 
the hall towards, the back door of the mansion. 
Dolph held the light over the balustrades ; but, in 



36 Washington Irving. 

his eagerness to catch a sight of the unknown, he 
flared his feeble taper so suddenly, that it went out. 
Still there was sufficient light from the pale moon- 
beams, that fell through a narrow window, to give 
him an indistinct view of the figure, near the door. 
He followed, therefore, down stairs, and turned 
towards the place ; but when he arrived there, the 
unknown had disappeared. The door remained 
fast barred and bolted ; there was no other mode 
of exit ; yet the being, whatever he might be, was 
gone. He unfastened the door, and looked out 
into the fields. It was a hazy, moonlight night, so 
that the eye could distinguish objects at some dis- 
tance. He thought he saw the unknown in a 
footpath which led from the door. He was not 
mistaken ; but how had he got out of the house ? 
He did not pause to think, but followed on. The 
old man proceeded at a measured pace, without 
looking about him, his footsteps sounding on the 
hard ground. He passed through the orchard of 
apple-trees, always keeping the footpath. It led to 
a well, situated in a little hollow, which had sup- 
plied the farm with water. Just at this well Dolph 
lost sight of him. He rubbed his eyes and looked 
again ; but nothing was to be seen of the unknown. 
He reached the well, but nobody was there. All 
the surrounding ground was open and clear ; there 
was no bush nor hiding-place. He looked down 
the well, and saw, at a great depth, the reflection 



Dolph Heyliger. 37 

of the sky in the still water. After remaining here 
for some time, without seeing or hearing anything 
more of his mysterious conductor, he returned to 
the house, full of awe and wonder. He bolted the 
door, groped his way back to bed, and it was long 
before he could compose himself to sleep. 

His dreams were strange and troubled. He 
thought he was following the old man along the 
side of a great river, until they came to a vessel on 
the point of sailing ; and that his conductor led 
him on board and vanished. He remembered the 
commander of the vessel, a short swarthy man, 
with crisped black hair, blind of one eye, and lame 
of one leg ; but the rest of his dream was very con- 
fused. Sometimes he was sailing ; sometimes on 
shore ; now amidst storms and tempests, and now 
wandering quietly in unknown streets. The figure 
of the old man was strangely mingled up with the 
incidents of the dream, and the whole distinctly 
wound up by his finding himself on board of the 
vessel again, returning home, with a great bag of 
money ! 

When he woke, the gray, cool light of dawn was 
streaking the horizon, and the cocks passing the 
reveille from farm to farm throughout the country. 
He rose more harassed and perplexed than ever, 
He was singularly confounded by all that he had 
seen and dreamt, and began to doubt whether his 
mind was not affected, and whether all that passing 



38 Washington Irving. 

in his thoughts might not be mere feverish fantasy. 
In his present state of mind, he did not feel disposed 
to return immediately to the doctors, and undergo 
the cross-questioning of the household. He made 
a scanty breakfast, therefore, on the remains of the 
last night's provisions, and then wandered out into 
the fields to meditate on all that had befallen him. 
Lost in thought, he rambled about, gradually ap- 
proaching the town, until the morning was far 
advanced, when he was aroused by a hurry and 
bustle around him. He found himself near the 
water's edge, in a throng of people, hurrying to a 
pier, where was a vessel ready to make sail. He 
was unconsciously carried along by the impulse of 
the crowd, and found that it was a sloop, on the 
point of sailing up the Hudson to Albany. There 
was much leave-taking, and kissing of old women 
and children, and great activity in carrying on 
board baskets of bread and cakes, and provisions 
of all kinds, notwithstanding the mighty joints of 
meat that dangled over the stern ; for a voyage to 
Albany was an expedition of great moment in those 
days. The commander of the sloop was hurrying 
about, and giving a world of orders, which were 
not very strictly attended to ; one man being busy 
in lighting his pipe, and another in sharpening his 
snickersnee. 

The appearance of the commander suddenly 
caught Dolph's attention. He was short and 



Dolph Heyliger. 39 

swarthy, with crisped black hair ; blind of one eye 
and lame of one leg— the very commander that he 
had seen in his dream ! Surprised and aroused, he 
considered the scene more attentively, and recalled 
still further traces of his dream : the appearance of 
the vessel, of the river, and of images, a variety of 
other objects accorded with the imperfect vaguely 
rising to recollection. 

As he stood musing on these circumstances, the 
captain suddenly called out to him in Dutch, 
"Step on board, young man, or you '11 be left be- 
hind ! " he was startled by the summons ; he saw 
that the sloop was cast loose, and was actually 
moving from the pier ; it seemed as if he was actu- 
ated by some irresistible impulse ; he sprang upon 
the deck, and the next moment the sloop was hur- 
ried off by the wind and tide. Dolph's thoughts 
and feelings were all in tumult and confusion. He 
had been strongly worked upon by the events 
which had recently befallen him, and could not but 
think there was some connection between his pres- 
ent situation and his last night's dream. He felt 
as if under supernatural influence ; and tried to 
assure himself with an old and favorite maxim of 
his, that " one way or other all would turn out 
for the best." For a moment, the indignation of 
the doctor at his departure, without leave, passed 
across his mind, but that was matter of little 
moment ; then he thought of the distress of his 



4o Washington Irving. 

mother at his strange disappearance, and the idea 
gave him a sudden pang ; he would have entreated 
to be put on shore ; but he knew with such wind and 
tide the entreaty would have been in vain. Then 
the inspiring love of novelty and adventure came 
rushing in full tide through his bosom ; he felt 
himself launched strangely and suddenly on the 
world, and under full way to explore the regions of 
wonder that lay up this mighty river, and beyond 
those blue mountains which had bounded his hori- 
zon since childhood. While he was lost in this 
whirl of thought, the sails strained to the breeze ; 
the shores seemed to hurry away behind him ; and 
before he perfectly recovered his self-possession, 
the sloop was ploughing her way past Spiking- 
devil and Yonkers, and the tallest chimney of the 
Manhattoes had faded from his sight. 

I have said that a voyage up the Hudson in 
those days was an undertaking of some moment ; 
indeed, it was as much thought of as a voyage to 
Europe is at present. The sloops were often 
many days on the way ; the cautious navigators 
taking in sail when it blew fresh, and coming to 
anchor at night ; and stopping to send the boat 
ashore for milk for tea ; without which it was im- 
possible for the worthy old lady passengers to sub- 
sist. And there were the much-talked-of perils of 
the Tappaan Zee, and the highlands. In short, a 
prudent Dutch burgher would talk of such a voyage 



Dolph Heyliger. 41 

for months, and even years, beforehand ; and never 
undertook it without putting his affairs in order, 
making his will, and having prayers said for him 
in the Low Dutch churches. 

In the course of such a voyage, therefore, Dolph 
was satisfied he would have time enough to reflect, 
and to make up his mind as to what he should do 
when he arrived at Albany. The captain with his 
blind eye, and lame leg, would, it is true, bring his 
strange dream to mind, and perplex him sadly for 
a few moments ; but of late his life had been made 
up so much of dreams and realities, his nights and 
days had been so jumbled together, that he seemed 
to be moving continually in a delusion. There is 
always, however, a kind of vagabond consolation 
in a man's having nothing in this world to lose ; 
with this Dolph comforted his heart, and deter- 
mined to make the most of the present enjoyment. 

In the second day of the voyage they came to 
the highlands. It was the latter part of a calm, 
sultry day, that they floated gently with the tide 
between these stern mountains. There was that 
perfect quiet which prevails over nature in the lan- 
guor of summer heat ; the turning of a plank, or 
the accidental falling of an oar on deck, was echoed 
from the mountain-side, and reverberated along the 
shores ; and if by chance the captain gave a shout 
of command, there were airy tongues which mocked 
it from every cliff. 



42 Washington Irving. 

Dolph gazed about him in mute delight and won- 
der at these scenes of nature's magnificence. To 
the left the Dunderberg reared its woody preci- 
pices, height over height, forest over forest, away 
into the deep summer sky. To the right, strutted 
forth the bold promontory of Antony's Nose, with 
a solitary eagle wheeling about it ; while beyond, 
mountain succeeded to mountain, until they seemed 
to lock their arms together, and confine this 
mighty river in their embraces. There was a 
feeling of quiet luxury in gazing at the broad 
green bosoms here and there scooped out among 
the precipices ; or at woodlands high in air, 
nodding over the edge of some beetling bluff, 
and their foliage all transparent in the yellow 
sunshine. 

In the midst of his admiration, Dolph remarked 
a pile of bright, snowy clouds, peering above the 
western heights. It was succeeded by another, 
and another, each seemingly pushing onwards its 
predecessor, and towering, with dazzling brilliancy, 
in the deep-blue atmosphere ; and now muttering 
peals of thunder were faintly heard rolling behind 
the mountains. The river, hitherto still and 
glassy, reflecting pictures of the sky and land, now 
showed a dark ripple at a distance, as the breeze 
came creeping up it. The fish-hawks wheeled and 
screamed, and sought their nests on the high dry 
trees ; the crows flew clamorously to the crevices 



Dolph Heyliger. 43 

of the rocks, and all nature seemed conscious of 
the approaching thunder-gust. 

The clouds now rolled in volumes over the 
mountain-tops ; their summits still bright and 
snowy, but the lower parts of an inky blackness. 
The rain began to patter down in broad and scat- 
tered drops ; the wind freshened and curled up the 
waves ; at length it seemed as if the bellying 
clouds were torn open by the mountain-tops, and 
complete torrents of rain came rattling down. The 
lightning leaped from cloud to cloud, and streamed 
quivering against the rocks, splitting and rending 
the stoutest forest-trees. The thunder burst in 
tremendous explosions ; the peals were echoed 
from mountain to mountain ; they crashed upon 
Dunderberg, and rolled up the long defile of the 
highlands, each headland making a new echo, until 
old Bull Hill seemed to bellow back the storm. 

For a time the scudding rack and mist, and the 
sheeted rain, almost hid the landscape from the 
sight. There was a fearful gloom, illumined still 
more fearfully by the streams of lightning which 
glittered among the rain-drops. Never had Dolph 
beheld such an absolute warring of the elements ; 
it seemed as if the storm was tearing and rending 
its way through this mountain defile, and had 
brought all the artillery of heaven into action. 

The vessel was hurried on by the increasing 
wind, until she came to where the river makes a 



44 Washington Irving. 

sudden bend, the only one in the whole course of 
its majestic career.* Just as they turned the 
point, a violent flaw of wind came sweeping down 
a mountain gully, bending the forest before it, and, 
in a moment, lashing up the river into white froth 
and foam. The captain saw the danger, and cried 
out to lower the sail. Before the order could be 
obeyed, the flaw struck the sloop and threw her 
on her beam ends. Everything now was fright 
and confusion : the flapping of the sails, the whis- 
tling and rushing of the wind, the bawling of the 
captain and crew, the shrieking of the passengers, 
all mingled with the rolling and bellowing of the 
thunder. In the midst of the uproar the sloop 
righted ; at the same time the mainsail shifted, the 
boom came sweeping the quarter-deck, and Dolph, 
who was gazing unguardedly at the clouds, found 
himself, in a moment, floundering in the river. 

For once in his life one of his idle accomplish- 
ments was of use to him. The many truant hours 
he had devoted to sporting in the Hudson had 
made him an expert swimmer ; yet with all his 
strength and skill he found great difficulty in 
reaching the shore. His disappearance from the 
deck had not been noticed by the crew, who were 
all occupied by their own danger. The sloop was 
driven along with inconceivable rapidity. She 
had hard work to weather a long promontory on 

* This must have been the bend at West Point. 



Dolph Heyliger. 45 

the eastern shore, round which* the river turned, 
and which completely shut her from Dolph's view. 
It was on a point of the western shore that he 
landed, and, scrambling up the rocks, threw him- 
self, faint and exhausted, at the foot of a tree. By 
degrees the thunder-gust passed over. The clouds 
rolled away to the east, where they lay piled in 
feathery masses, tinted with the last rosy rays of 
the sun. The distant play of the lightning might 
be seen about the dark bases, and now and then 
might be heard the faint muttering of the thunder. 
Dolph rose, and sought about to see if any path 
led from the shore, but all was savage and track- 
less. The rocks were piled upon each other ; great 
trunks of trees lay shattered about, as they had 
been blown down by the strong winds which draw 
through these mountains, or had fallen through 
age. The rocks, too, were overhung with wild 
vines and briers, which completely matted them- 
selves together, and opposed a barrier to all in- 
gress ; every movement that he made shook down 
a shower from the dripping foliage. He attempted 
to scale one of these almost perpendicular heights ; 
but, though strong and agile, he found it an 
Herculean undertaking. Often he was supported 
merely by crumbling projections of the rock, and 
sometimes he clung to roots and branches of 
trees, and hung almost suspended in the air. The 
wood-pigeon came cleaving his whistling flight by 



46 Washington Irving. 

him, and the eagle screamed from the brow of the 
impending cliff. As he was thus climbing, he was 
on the point of seizing hold of a shrub to aid his 
ascent, when something rustled among the leaves, 
and he saw a snake quivering along like lightning, 
almost from under his hand. It coiled itself up 
immediately, in an attitude of defiance, with flat- 
tened head, distended jaws, and quickly vibrating 
tongue, that played like a little flame about its 
mouth. Dolph's heart turned faint within him, and 
he had well-nigh let go his hold and tumbled down 
the precipice. The serpent stood on the defensive 
but for an instant ; and finding there was no at- 
tack, glided away into a cleft of the rock. Dolph's 
eye followed it with fearful intensity, and saw a 
nest of adders, knotted, and writhing, and hissing 
in the chasm. He hastened with all speed from so 
frightful a neighborhood. His imagination, full of 
this new horror, saw an adder in every curling vine, 
and heard the tail of a rattlesnake in every dry leaf 
that rustled. 

At length he succeeded in scrambling to the sum- 
mit of a precipice ; but it was covered by a dense 
forest. Wherever he could gain a lookout between 
trees, he beheld heights and cliffs, one rising be- 
yond another, until huge mountains overtopped the 
whole. There were no signs of cultivation ; no 
smoke curling among the trees to indicate a hu- 
man residence. Everything was wild and solitary. 



Dolph Heyliger. 47 

As he was standing on the edge of a precipice 
overlooking a deep ravine fringed with trees, his 
feet detached a great fragment of rock ; it fell, 
crashing its way through the tree-tops, down into 
the chasm. A loud whoop, or rather yell, issued 
from the bottom of the glen ; the moment after 
there was a report of a gun ; and a ball came whis- 
tling over his head, cutting the twigs and leaves, and 
burying itself deep in the bark of a chestnut-tree. 

Dolph did not wait for a second shot, but made 
a precipitate retreat ; fearing every moment to hear 
the enemy in pursuit. He succeeded, however, in 
returning unmolested to the shore, and determined 
to penetrate no farther into the country so beset 
with savage perils. 

He sat himself down, dripping, disconsolately, 
on a stone. What was to be done ? where was he 
to shelter himself ? The hour of repose was ap- 
proaching : the birds were seeking their nests, the 
bat began to flit about in the twilight, and the 
night-hawk, soaring high in the heaven, seemed to 
be calling out the stars. Night gradually closed in, 
and wrapped everything in gloom ; and though it 
was the latter part of summer, the breeze stealing 
along the river, and among these dripping forests, 
was chilly and penetrating, especially to a half- 
drowned man. 

As he sat drooping and despondent in this comfort- 
less condition, he perceived a light gleaming through 



48 Washington Irving. 

the trees near the shore, where the winding of the 
river made a deep bay. It cheered him with the 
hope of a human habitation, where he might get 
something to appease the clamorous cravings of his 
stomach, and what was equally necessary in his ship- 
wrecked condition, a comfortable shelter for the 
night. With extreme difficulty he made his way 
toward the light, along ledges of rocks, down which 
he was in danger of sliding into the river, and over 
great trunks of fallen trees ; some of which had 
been blown down in the late storm, and lay so 
thickly together that he had to struggle through 
their branches. At length he came to the brow of 
the rock overhanging a small dell, whence the light 
proceeded. It was from a fire at the foot of a great 
tree in the midst of a grassy interval or plat among 
the rocks. The fire cast up a red glare among the 
gray crags, and impending trees ; leaving chasms 
of deep gloom, that resembled entrances to caverns. 
A small brook rippled close by, betrayed by the 
quivering reflection of the flame. There were two 
figures moving about the fire, and others squatted 
before it. As they were between him and the light, 
they were in complete shadow : but one of them 
happening to move round to the opposite side, 
Dolph was startled at perceiving, by the glare fall- 
ing on painted features, and glittering on silver 
ornaments, that he was an Indian. He now looked 
more narrowly, and saw guns leaning against a tree, 



Dolph Heyliger. 49 

and a dead body lying on the ground. Here was 
the very foe that had fired at him from the glen. 
He endeavored to retreat quietly, not caring to in- 
trust himself to these half-human beings in so sav- 
age and lonely a place. It was too late : the Indian, 
with that eagle quickness of eye so remarkable in 
his race, perceived something stirring among the 
bushes on the rock : he seized one of the guns that 
leaned against the tree ; one moment more, and 
Dolph might have had his passion for adventure 
cured by a bullet. He halloed loudly, with the 
Indian salutation of friendship ; the whole party 
sprang upon their feet ; the salutation was returned, 
and the straggler was invited to join them at the 
fire. 

On approaching, he found to his consolation, the 
party was composed of white men as well as In- 
dians. One, evidently the principal personage, or 
commander, was seated on a trunk of a tree before 
the fire. He was a large, stout man, somewhat 
advanced in life, but hale and hearty. His face 
was bronzed almost to the color of an Indian's ; he 
had strong but rather jovial features, an aquiline 
nose, and a mouth shaped like a mastiffs. His face 
was half thrown in the shade by a broad hat, with a 
buck's tail in it. His gray hair hung short in his 
neck. He wore a hunting-frock, with Indian leg- 
gins, and moccasins, and a tomahawk in the broad 
wampum-belt round his waist. As Dolph caught a 



5o Washington Irving. 

distinct view of his person and features, something 
reminded him of the old man of the haunted house. 
The man before him, however, was different in 
dress and age ; he was more cheery too in aspect, 
and it was hard to find where the vague resem- 
blance lay ; but a resemblance there certainly was. 
Dolph felt some degree of awe in approaching him ; 
but was assured by a frank, hearty welcome. He 
was still further encouraged by perceiving that the 
dead body, which had caused him, some alarm, was 
that of a deer; and his satisfaction was complete 
in discerning, by savory steams from a kettle, sus- 
pended by a hooked stick over the fire, that there 
was a part cooking for the evenings repast. 

He had, in fact, fallen in with a rambling hunt- 
ing-party, such as often took place in those days 
among the settlers along the river. The hunter is 
always hospitable ; and nothing makes men more 
social and unceremonious than meeting in the wilder- 
ness. The commander of the party poured out a 
dram of cheering liquor, which he gave him with a 
merry leer, to warm his heart ; and ordered one of 
his followers to fetch some garments from a pin- 
nace>^ moored in a cove close by, while those in 
which our hero was dripping might be dried before 
the fire. 

Dolph found, as he had suspected, that the shot 
from the glen, which had come so near giving him 
his quietus when on the precipice, was from the 



Dolph Heyliger. 5 1 

party before him. He had nearly crushed one of 
them by the fragments of rock which he had de- 
tached ; and the jovial old hunter, in the broad hat 
and buck-tail, had fired at the place where he saw 
the bushes move, supposing it to be the sound of 
some wild animal. He laughed heartily at the blun- 
der, it being what is considered an exceeding good 
joke among hunters : " but faith, my lad," said he," if 
I had but caught a glimpse of you to take sight at, 
you would have followed the rock. Antony Vander 
Heyden is seldom known to miss his aim." These 
last words were at once a clue to Dolph's curiosity : 
and a few questions let him completely into the 
character of the man before him, and of his band of 
woodland rangers. This commander in the broad 
hat and hunting-frock was no less a personage than 
the Heer Antony Vander Heyden, of Albany, of 
whom Dolph had many a time heard. He was, in 
fact, the hero of many a story, his singular humors 
and whimsical habits being matters of wonder to his 
quiet Dutch neighbors. As he was a man of prop- 
erty, having had a father before him from whom he 
inherited large tracts of wild land, and whole bar- 
rels full of wampum, he could indulge his humors 
without control. Instead of staying quietly at 
home, eating and drinking at regular mealtimes, 
amusing himself by smoking his pipe on the bench 
before the door, and then turning into a comfort- 
able bed at night, he delighted in all kinds of rough, 



52 Washington Irving. 

wild expeditions : never so happy as when on a 
hunting-party in the wilderness, sleeping under 
trees or bark sheds, or cruising down the river, or 
on some woodland lake, fishing and fowling, and 
living the Lord knows how. 

He was a great friend to Indians, and to an 
Indian mode of life ; which he considered true 
natural liberty and manly enjoyment When at 
home he had always several Indian hangers-on who 
loitered about his house, sleeping like hounds in 
the sunshine ; or preparing hunting and fishing 
tackle for some new expedition ; or shooting at 
marks with bows and arrows. 

Over these vagrant beings Heer Antony had as 
perfect command as a huntsman over his pack ; 
though they were great nuisances to the regular 
people of his neighborhood. As he was a rich 
man, no one ventured to thwart his humors; in- 
deed, his hearty, joyous manner made him univer- 
sally popular. He would troll a Dutch song as he 
tramped along the street ; hail every one a mile off, 
and when he entered a house, would slap the good 
man familiarly on the back, shake him by the hand 
till he roared, and kiss his wife and daughter before 
his face, — in short there was no pride or ill-humor 
about Heer Antony. 

Besides his Indian hangers-on, he had three or 
four humble friends among the white men, who 
looked up to him as a patron, and had the run of 



Dolph Heyliger. 53 

his kitchen, and the favor of being taken with him 
occasionally on his expeditions. With a medley of 
such retainers he was at present on a cruise along 
the shores of the Hudson, in a pinnance kept for 
his own recreation. There were two white men 
with him, dressed partly in Indian style, with moc- 
casons and hunting-shirts ; the rest of his crew 
consisted of four favorite Indians. They had been 
prowling about the river, without any definite 
object, until they found themselves in the high- 
lands ; where they had passed two or three days, 
hunting the deer which still lingered among these 
mountains. 

"It is lucky for you, young man," said Antony 
Vander Heyden, " that you happened to be knocked 
overboard to-day, as to-morrow morning we start 
early on our return homewards ; and you might 
then have looked in vain for a meal among the 
mountains, — but come, lads, stir about ! stir about ! 
Let 's see what prog we have for supper ; the 
kettle has boiled long enough ; my stomach cries 
cupboard ; and I '11 warrant our guest is in no 
mood to dally with his trencher." 

There was a bustle now in the little encampment ; 
one took off the kettle and turned a part of the 
contents into a huge wooden bowl. Another pre- 
pared a flat rock for a table ; while a third brought 
various utensils from the pinnace ; Heer Antony 
himself brought a flask or two of precious liquor 



54 Washington Irving. 

from his own private locker ; knowing his boon 
companions too well to trust any of them with the 
key. 

A rude but hearty repast was soon spread ; con- 
sisting of venison smoking from the kettle, with cold 
bacon, boiled Indian corn, and mighty loaves of 
good brown household bread. Never had Dolph 
made a more delicious repast ; and when he had 
washed it down with two or three draughts from 
the Heer Antony's flask, and felt the jolly liquor 
sending its warmth through his veins, and glowing 
round his very heart, he would not have changed 
his situation, no, not with the governor of the 
province. 

The Heer Antony, too, grew chirping and 
joyous ; told half a dozen fat stories, at which 
his white followers laughed immoderately, though 
the Indians, as usual, maintained an invincible 
gravity. 

" This is your true life, my boy ! " said he, slap- 
ping Dolph on the shoulder ; " a man is never a 
man till he can defy wind and weather, range woods 
and wilds, sleep under a tree, and live on bass-wood 
leaves ! " 

And then would he sing a stave or two of a 
Dutch drinking-song, swaying a short swab Dutch 
bottle in his hand, while his myrmidons would join 
in the chorus, until the woods echoed again ; — as 
the good old song has it, 



Dolph Heyliger. 55 

" They all with a shout made the elements ring 
So soon as the office was o'er, 
To feasting they went, with true merriment, 
And tippled strong liquor gillore." 

In the midst of his joviality, however, Heer An- 
tony did not lose sight of discretion. Though he 
pushed the bottle without reserve to Dolph, he 
always took care to help his followers himself, 
knowing the beings he had to deal with ; and was 
particular in granting but a moderate allowance to 
the Indians. The repast being ended, the Indians 
having drunk their liquor, and smoked their pipes, 
now wrapped themselves in their blankets, stretched 
themselves on the ground, with their feet to the 
fire, and soon fell asleep, like so many tired hounds. 
The rest of the party remained chatting before 
the fire, which the gloom of the forest, and the 
dampness of the air from the late storm, rendered 
extremely grateful and comforting. The conversa- 
tion gradually moderated from the hilarity of sup- 
per time, and turned upon hunting-adventures, and 
exploits and perils in the wilderness, many of which 
were so strange and improbable, that I will not ven- 
ture to repeat them, lest the veracity of Antony 
Vander Heyden and his comrades should be brought 
into question. There were many legendary tales 
told, also, about the river, and the settlements on 
its borders ; in which valuable kind of lore the 
Heer Antony seemed deeply versed. As the sturdy 
bush-beater sat in a twisted root of a tree, that 



56 Washington Irving. 

served him for an arm-chair, dealing forth these 
wild stories, with the fire gleaming on his strongly 
marked visage, Dolph was again repeatedly per- 
plexed by something that reminded him of the 
phantom of the haunted house ; some vague resem- 
blance not to be fixed upon any precise feature or 
lineament, but pervading the general air of his 
countenance and figure. 

The circumstance of Dolph's falling overboard 
led to the relation of divers disasters and singular 
mishaps that had befallen voyagers on this great 
river, particularly in the earlier periods of colonial 
history ; most of which the Heer deliberately at- 
tributed to supernatural causes. Dolph stared at 
this suggestion ; but the old gentleman assured 
him it was very currently believed by the settlers 
along the river, that these highlands were under 
the dominion of supernatural and mischievous 
beings, which seemed to have taken some pique 
against the Dutch colonists in the early time of the 
settlement. In consequence of this, they have ever 
taken particular delight in venting their spleen, and 
indulging their humors, upon the Dutch skippers ; 
bothering them with flaws, head-winds, counter-cur- 
rents, and all kinds of impediments : insomuch, 
that a Dutch navigator was always obliged to be 
exceedingly wary and deliberate in his proceedings ; 
to come to anchor at dusk ; to drop his peak, or 
take in sail, whenever he saw a swag-bellied cloud 



Dolph Heyliger. 57 

rolling over the mountains ; in short, to take so 
many precautions, that he was often apt to be an 
incredible time in toiling up the river. 

Some, he said, believed these mischievous powers 
of the air to be the evil spirits conjured up by the 
Indian wizards, in the early times of the province, 
to revenge themselves on the strangers who had 
dispossessed them of their country. They even 
attributed to their incantations the misadventure 
which befell the renowned Hendrick Hudson, when 
he sailed so gallantly up this river in quest of a 
northwest passage, and, as he thought, ran his ship 
aground ; which they affirm was nothing more nor 
less than a spell of these same wizards, to prevent 
his getting to China in this direction. 

The greater part, however, Heer Antony ob- 
served, accounted for all the extraordinary circum- 
stances attending this river, and the perplexities of 
the skippers who navigated it, by the old legend of 
the Storm-ship which haunted Point-no-point. On 
finding Dolph to be utterly ignorant of this tradi- 
tion, the Heer stared at him for a moment with 
surprise, and wondered where he had passed his 
life, to be uninformed on so important a point of 
history. To pass away the remainder of the even- 
ing, therefore, he undertook the tale, as far as his 
memory would serve, in the very words in which it 
had been written out by Mynheer Selyne, an early 
poet of the New Netherlandts. Giving, then, a stir 



58 



Washington Irving. 



to the fire, that sent up its sparks among the trees 
like a little volcano, he adjusted himself comfortably 
in his root of a tree, and throwing back his head, 
and closing his eyes for a few moments, to summon 
up his recollection, he related the following legend. 




THE STORM-SHIP. 



IN the golden age of the province of the New 
Netherlands, when under the sway of Wouter 
Van Twiller, otherwise called the Doubter, the 
people of the Manhattoes were alarmed one sultry 
afternoon, just about the time of the summer sol- 
stice, by a tremendous storm of thunder and light- 
ning. The rain fell in such torrents as absolutely 
to spatter up and smoke along the ground. It 
seemed as if the thunder rattled and rolled over 
the very roofs of the houses ; the lightning was 
seen to play about the church of St. Nicholas, and 
to strive three times, in vain, to strike its weather- 
cock. Garret Van Home's new chimney was split 
almost from top to bottom ; and Doffue Milde- 
berger was struck speechless from his bald-faced 
mare, just as he was riding into town. In a word, 
it was one of those unparalleled storms which only 
happen once within the memory of that venerable 
personage known in all towns by the appellation of 
"the oldest inhabitant." 

Great was the terror of the good old women of 
the Manhattoes. They gathered their children to- 

59 



60 Washington Irving. 

gether, and took refuge in the cellars ; after having 
hung a shoe on the iron point of every bedpost, 
lest it should attract the lightning. At length the 
storm abated ; the thunder sank into a growl, and 
the setting sun, breaking from under the fringed 
borders of the clouds, made the broad bosom of the 
bay to gleam like a sea of molten gold. 

The word was given from the fort that a ship 
was standing up the bay. It passed from mouth to 
mouth, and street to street, and soon put the little 
capital in a bustle. The arrival of a ship, in those 
early times of the settlement, was an event of vast 
importance to the inhabitants. It brought them 
news from the old world, from the land of their 
birth, from which they were so completely severed : 
to the yearly ship, too, they looked for their supply 
of luxuries, of finery, of comforts, and almost of 
necessaries. The good vrouw could not have her 
new cap nor new gown until the arrival of the ship ; 
the artist waited for it for his tools, the burgomas- 
ter for his pipe and his supply of Hollands, the 
schoolboy for his top and marbles, and the lordly 
landholder for the bricks with which he was to build 
his new mansion. Thus every one, rich and poor, 
great and small, looked out for the arrival of the 
ship. It was the great yearly event of the town of 
New Amsterdam ; and from one end of the year to 
the other, the ship— the ship—the ship — was the 
continual topic of conversation. 



The Storm-Ship. 61 

The news from the fort, therefore, brought all 
the populace down to the Battery, to behold the 
wished-for sight. It was not exactly the time when 
she had been expected to arrive, and the circum- 
stance was a matter of some speculation. Many 
were the groups collected about the Battery. Here 
and there might be seen a burgomaster, of slow 
and pompous gravity, giving his opinion with great 
confidence to a crowd of old women and idle boys. 
At another place was a knot of old weather-beaten 
fellows, who had been seamen or fishermen in their 
times, and were great authorities on such occasions ; 
these gave different opinions, and caused great dis- 
putes among their several adherents : but the man 
most looked up to, and followed and watched by 
the crowd, was Hans Van Pelt, an old Dutch sea- 
captain retired from service, the nautical oracle of 
the place. He reconnoitred the ship through an 
ancient telescope, covered with tarry canvas, 
hummed a Dutch tune to himself, and said nothing. 
A hum, however, from Hans Van Pelt, had always 
more weight with the public than a speech from 
another man. 

In the meantime the ship became more distinct 
to the naked eye : she was a stout, round, Dutch- 
built vessel, with high bow and poop, and bearing 
Dutch colors. The evening sun gilded her belly- 
ing canvas, and she came riding over the long 
waving billows. The sentinel who had given notice 



62 Washington Irving. 

of her approach, declared, that he first got sight of 
her when she was in the centre of the bay ; and 
that she broke suddenly on his sight, just as if she 
had come out of the bosom of the black thunder- 
cloud. The by-standers looked at Hans Van Pelt, 
to see what he would say to this report : Hans 
Van Pelt screwed his mouth closer together, and 
said nothing ; upon which some shook their heads, 
and others shrugged their shoulders. 

The ship was now repeatedly hailed, but made 
no reply, and passing by the fort, stood on up the 
Hudson. A gun was brought to bear on her, and, 
with some difficulty, loaded and fired by Hans Van 
Pelt, the garrison not being expert in artillery. 
The shot seemed absolutely to pass through the 
ship, and to skip along the water on the other side, 
but no notice was taken of it ! What was strange, 
she had all her sails set, and sailed right against 
wind and tide, which were both down the river. 
Upon this Hans Van Pelt, who was likewise har- 
bor-master, ordered his boat, and set off to board 
her ; but after rowing two or three hours, he 
turned without success. Sometimes he would get 
within one or two hundred yards of her, and then, 
in a twinkling, she would be half a mile off. Some 
said it was because his oarsmen, who were rather 
pursy and short-winded, stopped every now and 
then to take breath, and spit on their hands ; but 
this it is probable was a mere scandal. He got 



The Storm-Ship. 63 

near enough, however, to see the crew ; who were 
all dressed in Dutch style, the officers in doublets 
and high hats and feathers ; not a word was spoken 
by any one on board ; they stood as motionless as 
so many statues, and the ship seemed as if left to 
her own government. Thus she kept on, away up 
the river, lessening and lessening in the evening 
sunshine, until she faded from sight, like a little 
white cloud melting away in the summer sky. 

The appearance of this ship threw the governor 
into one of the deepest doubts that ever beset him 
in the whole course of his administration. Fears 
were entertained for the security of the infant settle- 
ments on the river, lest this might be an enemy's 
ship in disguise, sent to take possession. The 
governor called together his council repeatedly to 
assist him with their conjectures. He sat in his 
chair of state, built of timber from the sacred 
forest of the Hague, smoking his long jasmin 
pipe, and listening to all that his counsellors 
had to say on a subject about which they knew 
nothing ; but in spite of all the conjecturing of 
the sagest and oldest heads, the governor still 
continued to doubt. 

Messengers were dispatched to different places 
on the river ; but they returned without any tidings 
—the ship had made no port. Day after day, and 
week after week, elapsed, but she never returned 
down the Hudson. As, however, the council 



64 Washington Irving. 

seemed solicitous for intelligence, they had it in 
abundance. The captains of the sloops seldom 
arrived without bringing some report of having 
seen the strange ship at different parts of the 
river ; sometimes near the Pallisadoes, some- 
times off Croton Point, and sometimes in the 
highlands ; but she never was reported as having 
been seen above the highlands. The crews of the 
sloops, it is true, generally differed among them- 
selves in their accounts of these apparitions ; but 
that may have arisen from the uncertain situations 
in which they saw her. Sometimes it was by the 
flashes of the thunder-storm lighting up a pitchy 
night, and giving glimpses of her careering across 
Tappaan Zee, or the wide waste of Haverstraw 
Bay. At one moment she would appear close upon 
them, as if likely to run them down, and would 
throw them into great bustle and alarm ; but the 
next flash would show her far off, always sailing 
against the wind. Sometimes, in quiet moonlight 
nights, she would be seen under some high bluff of 
the highlands, all in deep shadow, excepting her 
top-sails glittering in the moonbeams ; by the time, 
however, that the voyagers reached the place, no 
ship was to be seen ; and when they had passed on 
for some distance, and looked back, behold ! there 
she was again, with her topsails in the moonshine ! 
Her appearance was always just after, or just before, 
or just in the midst of unruly weather ; and she 



The Storm-Ship. 65 

was known among the skippers and voyagers of the 
Hudson by the name of " the storm-ship." 

These reports perplexed the governor and his 
council more than ever ; and it would be endless 
to repeat the conjectures and opinions uttered on 
the subject. Some quoted cases in point, of ships 
seen off the coast of New England, navigated by 
witches and goblins. Old Hans Van Pelt, who 
had been more than once to the Dutch colony at 
the Cape of Good Hope, insisted that this must 
be the flying Dutchman, which had so long haunted 
Table Bay ; but being unable to make port, had 
now sought another harbor. Others suggested, 
that, if it really was a supernatural apparition, as 
there was every natural reason to believe, it might 
be Hendrick Hudson, and his crew of the Half- 
moon; who, it was well known, had once run 
aground in the upper part of the river in seeking 
a northwest passage to China. This opinion had 
very little weight with the governor, but it passed 
current out of doors ; for indeed it had already 
been reported, that Hendrick Hudson and his crew 
haunted the Kaatskill Mountains ; and it appeared 
very reasonable to suppose, that his ship might 
infest the river where the enterprise was baffled, or 
that it might bear the shadowy crew to their 
periodical revels in the mountain. 

Other events occurred to occupy the thoughts 
and doubts of the sage Wouter and his council, 



66 Washington Irving. 

and the storm-ship ceased to be a subject of delib- 
eration at the board. It continued, however, a 
matter of popular belief and marvellous anecdote 
through the whole time of the Dutch government, 
and particularly just before the capture of New 
Amsterdam, and the subjugation of the province 
by the English squadron. About that time the 
storm-ship was repeatedly seen in the Tappaan 
Zee, and about Weehawk, and even down as far as 
Hoboken ; and her appearance was supposed to be 
ominous of the approaching squall in public affairs, 
and the downfall of Dutch domination. 

Since that time we have no authentic accounts 
of her ; though it is said she still haunts the high- 
lands, and cruises about Point-no-point. People 
who live along the river insist that they sometimes 
see her in summer moonlight ; and that in a deep 
still midnight they have heard the chant of her 
crew, as if heaving the lead ; but sights and sounds 
are so deceptive along the mountainous shores, and 
about the wide bays and long reaches of this great 
river, that I confess I have very strong doubts 
upon the subject. 

It is certain, nevertheless, that strange things 
have been seen in these highlands in storms, which 
are considered as connected with the old story of 
the ship. The captains of the river craft talk of a 
bulbous-bottomed Dutch goblin, in trunk-hose and 
sugar-loafed hat, with a speaking-trumpet in his 



The Storm-Ship. 67 

hand, which they say keeps about the Dunderberg.* 
They declare that they have heard him, in stormy 
weather, in the midst of the turmoil, giving orders 
in Low Dutch for the piping up of a fresh gust of 
wind, or the rattling off of another thunder-clap. 
That sometimes he has been seen surrounded by a 
crew of little imps in broad breeches and short 
doublets ; tumbling head-over-heels in the rack and 
mist, and playing a thousand gambols in the air ; 
or buzzing like a swarm of flies about Antony's 
Nose ; and that, at such times, the hurry-scurry of 
the storm was always greatest. One time a sloop, 
in passing by the Dunderberg, was overtaken by a 
thunder-gust, that came scouring round the moun- 
tain, and seemed to burst just over the vessel. 
Though tight and well ballasted, she labored 
dreadfully, and the water came over the gunwale. 
All the crew were amazed when it was discovered 
that there was a little white sugar-loaf hat on the 
mast-head, known at once to be the hat of the 
Heer of the Dunderberg. Nobody, however, 
dared to climb to the mast-head, and get rid of 
this terrible hat. The sloop continued laboring 
and rocking, as if she would have rolled her mast 
overboard, and seemed in continual danger either 
of upsetting or of running on shore. In this way 
she drove quite through the highlands, until she 
had passed Pollopol's Island, where, it is said, the 

*i.e., The " Thunder-Mountain," so-called from its echoes. 



68 Washington Irving. 

jurisdiction of the Dunderberg potentate ceases. 
No sooner had she passed this bourn, than the 
little hat spun up into the air like a top, whirled 
up all the clouds into a vortex, and hurried them 
back to the summit of the Dunderberg ; while the 
sloop righted herself, and sailed on as quietly as if 
in a mill-pond. Nothing saved her from utter 
wreck but the fortunate circumstance of having a 
horse-shoe nailed against the mast, — a wise pre- 
caution against evil spirits, since adopted by all 
the Dutch captains that navigate this haunted 
river. 

There is another story told of this foul-weather 
urchin, by Skipper Daniel Ouselsticker, of Fishkill, 
who was never known to tell a lie. He declared 
that, in a severe squall, he saw him seated astride 
of his bowsprit, riding the sloop ashore, full butt 
against Antony's Nose, and that he was exor- 
cised by Dominie Van Gieson, of Esopus, who 
happened to be on board, and who sang the hymn 
of St. Nicholas ; whereupon the goblin threw him- 
self up in the air like a ball, and went off in a 
whirlwind, carrying away with him the nightcap of 
the Dominie's wife ; which was discovered the next 
Sunday morning hanging on the weather-cock of 
Esopus church-steeple, at least forty miles off! 
Several events of this kind having taken place, 
the regular skippers of the river, for a long time, 
did not venture to pass the Dunderberg without 



The Storm-Ship. 69 

lowering their peaks, out of homage to the Heer 
of the mountain ; and it was observed that all such 
as paid this tribute of respect were suffered to pass 
unmolested.* 

"Such," said Antony Vander Heyden, "are a 
few of the stories written down by Selyne, the 
poet, concerning the storm-ship, — which he af- 
firms to have brought a crew of mischievous imps 
into the province, from some old ghost-ridden coun- 
try of Europe. I could give a host more, if neces- 
sary ; for all the accidents that so often befall the 
river craft in the highlands are said to be tricks 
played oft' by these imps of the Dunderberg ; but 

* Among the superstitions which prevailed in the colonies, during the 
early times of the settlements, there seems to have been a singular one 
about phantom ships. The superstitious fancies of men are always apt to 
turn upon those objects which concern their daily occupations. The soli- 
tary ship, which, from year to year, came like a raven in the wilderness, 
bringing to the inhabitants of a settlement the comforts of life from the 
world from which they were cut off, was apt to be present to their dreams, 
whether sleeping or waking. The accidental sight from shore of a sail 
gliding along the horizon in those as yet lonely seas, was apt to be a mat- 
ter of much talk and speculation. There is mention made in one of the 
early New England writers of a ship navigated by witches, with a great 
horse that stood by the mainmast. I have met with another story, some- 
where; of a ship that drove on shore, in fair, sunny, tranquil weather, 
with sails all set, and a table spread in the cabin, as if to regale a number 
of guests, yet not a living being on board. These phantom ships always 
sailed in the eye of the wind ; or ploughed their way with great velocity, 
making the smooth sea foam before their bows, when not a breath of air 
was stirring. 

Moore has finely wrought up one of these legends of the sea into a little 
tale, which, within a small compass, contains the very essence of this species 
of supernatural fiction. I allude to his Spectre ship, bound to Deadman's 
Isle. 



yo Washington Irving. 

I see that you are nodding, so let us turn in for 
the night" 

The moon had just raised her silver horns above 
the round back of Old Bull Hill, and lit up the 
gray rocks and shagged forests, and glittered on the 
waving bosom of the river. The night-dew was fall- 
ing, and the late gloomy mountains began to soften 
and put on a gray aerial tint in the dewy light The 
hunters stirred the fire, and threw on fresh fuel to 
qualify the damp of the night air. They then pre- 
pared a bed of branches and dry leaves under a ledge 
of rocks for Dolph ; while Antony Vander Heyden, 
wrapping himself in a huge coat of skins, stretched 
himself before the fire. It was some time, how- 
ever, before Dolph could close his eyes. He lay 
contemplating the strange scene before him : the 
wild woods and rocks around ; the fire throwing 
fitful gleams on the faces of the sleeping savages ; 
and the Heer Antony, too, who so singularly, yet 
vaguely, reminded him of the nightly visitant to 
the haunted house. Now and then he heard the 
cry of some wild animal from the forest ; or the 
hooting of the owl ; or the notes of the whippoor- 
will, which seemed to abound among these soli- 
tudes ; or the splash of a sturgeon, leaping out of 
the river and falling back full-length on its placid 
surface. He contrasted all this with his accus- 
tomed nest in the garret-room of the doctor's 



Dolph Heyliger. 71 

mansion ; — where the only sounds at night were 
the church-clock telling the hour ; the drowsy voice 
of the watchman, drawling out all was well ; the 
deep snoring of the doctor's clubbed nose from 
below-stairs ; or the cautious labors of some car- 
penter rat gnawing in the wainscot. His thoughts 
then wandered to his poor old mother : what would 
she think of his mysterious disappearance — what 
anxiety and distress would she not suffer? This 
thought would continually intrude itself to mar his 
present enjoyment. It brought with it a feeling of 
pain and compunction, and he fell asleep with the 
tears yet standing in his eyes. 

Were this a mere tale of fancy, here would be a 
fine opportunity for weaving in strange adventures 
among these wild mountains, and roving hunters ; 
and, after involving my hero in a variety of perils 
and difficulties, rescuing him from them all by some 
miraculous contrivance ; but as this is absolutely a 
true story, I must content myself with simple facts, 
and keep to probabilities. 

At an early hour of the next day, therefore, 
after a hearty morning's meal, the encampment 
broke up, and our adventurers embarked in the 
pinnace of Antony Vander Heyden. There being 
no wind for the sails, the Indians rowed her gently 
along, keeping time to a kind of chant of one of 
the white men. The day was serene and beauti- 
ful ; the river without a wave ; and as the vessel 



12 Washington Irving. 

cleft the glassy water, it left a long, undulating 
track behind. The crows, who had scented the 
hunters' banquet, were already gathering and hov- 
ering in the air, just where a column of thin, blue 
smoke, rising from among the trees showed the 
place of their last night's quarters. As they coasted 
along the bases of the mountains, the Heer Antony 
pointed out to Dolph a bald eagle, the sovereign 
of these regions, who sat perched on a dry tree 
that projected over the river, and, with eye turned 
upwards, seemed to be drinking in the splendor of 
the morning sun. Their approach disturbed the 
monarch's meditations. He first spread one wing, 
and then the other ; balanced himself for a mo- 
ment ; and then, quitting his perch with dignified 
composure, wheeled slowly over their heads. Dolph 
snatched up a gun, and sent a whistling ball after 
him, that cut some of the feathers from his wing ; the 
report of the gun leaped sharply from rock to rock, 
and awakened a thousand echoes ; but the monarch 
of the air sailed calmly on, ascending higher and 
higher, and wheeling widely as he ascended, soar- 
ing up the green bosom of the woody mountain, 
until he disappeared over the brow of a beetling 
precipice. Dolph felt in a manner rebuked by this 
proud tranquillity, and almost reproached himself 
for having so wantonly insulted this majestic bird. 
Heer Antony told him, laughing, to remember that 
he was not yet out of the territories of the lord of 



Dolph Heyliger. 73 

the Dunderberg ; and an old Indian shook his 
head, and observed, that there was bad luck in kill- 
ing an eagle ; the hunter, on the contrary, should 
always leave him a portion of his spoils. 

Nothing, however, occurred to molest them on 
their voyage. They passed pleasantly through 
magnificent and lonely scenes, until they came to 
where Pollopol's Island lay, like a floating bower 
at the extremity of the highlands. Here they 
landed, until the heat of the day should abate, or a 
breeze spring up that might supersede the labor of 
the oar. Some prepared the mid-day meal, while 
others reposed under the shade of the trees, in 
luxurious summer indolence, looking drowsily forth 
upon the beauty of the scene. On the one side 
were the highlands, vast and cragged, feathered to 
the top with forests, and throwing their shadows 
on the glassy water that dimpled at their feet. On 
the other side was a wide expanse of the river, like 
a broad lake, with long sunny reaches, and green 
headlands ; and the distant line of Shawangunk 
mountains waving along a clear horizon, or check- 
ered by a fleecy cloud. 

But I forbear to dwell on the particulars of their 
cruise along the river ; this vagrant, amphibious 
life, careering across silver sheets of water ; coast- 
ing wild woodland shores, banqueting on shady 
promontories, with the spreading tree overhead, 
the river curling its light foam to one's feet, and 



74 Washington Irving. 

distant mountain, and rock, and tree, and snowy 
cloud, and deep-blue sky, all mingling in summer 
beauty before one ; all this, though never cloying 
in the enjoyment, would be but tedious in nar- 
ration. 

When encamped by the water-side, some of the 
party would go into the woods and hunt ; others 
would fish : sometimes they would amuse them- 
selves by shooting at a mark, by leaping, by run- 
ning, by wrestling ; and Dolph gained great favor 
in the eyes of Antony Vander Heyden, by his skill 
and adroitness in all these exercises ; which the 
Heer considered as the highest of manly accom- 
plishments. 

Thus did they coast jollily on, choosing only the 
pleasant hours for voyaging ; sometimes in the cool 
morning dawn, sometimes in the sombre evening 
twilight, and sometimes when the moonshine 
spangled the crisp curling waves that whispered 
along the sides of their little bark. Never had 
Dolph felt so completely in his element ; never had 
he met with anything so completely to his taste as 
this wild haphazard life. He was the very man to 
second Antony Vander Heyden in his rambling hu- 
mors, and gained continually on his affections. The 
heart of the old bushwhacker yearned toward the 
young man, who seemed thus growing up in his 
own likeness ; and as they approached to the end 
of their voyage, he could not help inquiring a little 



Dolph Heyliger. 75 

into his history. Dolph frankly told him his course 
of life, his severe medical studies, his little profi- 
ciency, and his very dubious prospects. The Heer 
was shocked to find that such amazing talents and 
accomplishments were to be cramped and buried 
under a doctor's wig. He had a sovereign con- 
tempt for the healing art, having never had any 
other physician than the butcher. He bore a mor- 
tal grudge to all kinds of study also, ever since he 
had been flogged about an unintelligible book when 
he was a boy. But to think that a young fellow 
like Dolph, of such wonderful abilities, who could 
shoot, fish, run, jump, ride, and wrestle, should be 
obliged to roll pills, and administer juleps for a liv- 
ing — 'twas monstrous! He told Dolph never to 
despair, but to " throw physic to the dogs " ; for a 
young fellow of his prodigious talents could never 
fail to make his way. " As you seem to have no 
acquaintance in Albany," said Heer Antony, "you 
shall go home with me, and remain under my roof 
until you can look about you ; and in the meantime 
we can take an occasional bout at shooting and 
fishing, for it is a pity that such talents should lie 
idle." 

Dolph, who was at the mercy of chance, was not 
hard to be persuaded. Indeed, on turning over 
matters in his mind, which he did very sagely and 
deliberately, he could not but think that Antony 
Vander Heyden was, "somehow or other," con- 



76 Washington Irving. 

nected with the story of the Haunted House ; that 
the misadventure in the highlands, which had 
thrown them so strangely together, was, " somehow 
or other," to work out something good ; in short, 
there is nothing so convenient as this " somehow- 
or-other " way of accommodating one's self to cir- 
cumstances ; it is the mainstay of a heedless actor, 
and tardy reasoner, like Dolph Heyliger ; and he 
who can, in this loose, easy way, link foregone evil 
to anticipated good, possesses a secret of happiness 
almost equal to the philosopher's stone. 

On their arrival at Albany, the sight of Dolph's 
companion seemed to cause universal satisfaction. 
Many were the greetings at the river-side, and the 
salutations in the streets ; the dogs bounded before 
him ; the boys whooped as he passed ; everybody 
seemed to known Antony Vander Heyden. Dolph 
followed on in silence, admiring the neatness of this 
worthy burgh ; for in those days Albany was in all its 
glory, and inhabited almost exclusively by the de- 
scendants of the original Dutch settlers, not having 
as yet been discovered and colonized by the rest- 
less people of New England. Everything was 
quiet and orderly ; everything was conducted 
calmly and leisurely ; no hurry, no bustle, no strug- 
gling and scrambling for existence. The grass 
grew about the unpaved streets, and relieved the 
eye by its refreshing verdure. Tall sycamores or 
pendent willows shaded the houses, with caterpillars 



Dolph Heyliger. 77 

swinging, in long silken strings, from their branches ; 
or moths, fluttering about like coxcombs, in joy at 
their gay transformation. The houses were built in 
the old Dutch style with gabled-ends towards the 
street. The thrifty housewife was seated on a 
bench before her door, in close-crimped cap, bright- 
flowered gown, and white apron, busily employed 
in knitting. The husband smoked his pipe on the 
opposite bench ; and the little pet negro girl, seated 
on the step at her mistress's feet, was industriously 
plying her needle. The swallows sported about the 
eaves, or skimmed along the streets, and brought 
back some rich booty for their clamorous young ; 
and the little housekeeping wren flew in and out of 
a Liliputian house, or an old hat nailed against the 
wall The cows were coming home, lowing through 
the streets, to be milked at their owner's door ; and 
if, perchance, there were any loiterers, some negro 
urchin, with a long goad, w r as gently urging them 
homewards. 

As Dolph's companion passed on, he received a 
tranquil nod from the burghers, and a friendly 
word from their wives; all calling him familiarly 
by the name of Antony ; for it was the custom in 
this stronghold of the patriarchs, where they had 
all grown up together from childhood, to call each 
other by the Christian name. The Heer did not 
pause to have his usual jokes with them, for he 
was impatient to reach his home. At length they 



78 Washington Irving. 

arrived at his mansion. It was of some magnitude, 
in the Dutch style, with large iron figures on the 
gables, that gave the date of its erection, and 
showed that it had been built in the earliest times 
of the settlement. 

The news of Heer Antony's arrival had preceded 
him, and the whole household was on the look-out. 
A crew of negroes, large and small, had collected 
in front of the house to receive him. The old, 
white-headed ones, who had grown gray in his ser- 
vice, grinned for joy, and made many awkward 
bows and grimaces, and the little ones capered 
about his knees. But the most happy being in the 
household was a little, plump, blooming lass, his 
only child, and the darling of his heart. She came 
bounding out of the house ; but the sight of 
a strange young man with her father called up, 
for a moment, all the bashfulness of a homebred 
damsel. 

Dolph gazed at her with wonder and delight ;\ 
never had he seen, as he thought, anything so 
comely in the shape of a woman. She was dressed 
in the good old Dutch taste, with long stays, and 
full, short petticoats, so admirably adapted to show 
and set off the female form. Her hair, turned up 
under a small round cap, displayed the fairness of 
her forehead ; she had fine blue, laughing eyes, a 
trim, slender waist, and soft swell — but, in a word, 
she was a little Dutch divinity ; and Dolph, who 



Dolph Heyliger. 79 

never stopped half-way in a new impulse, fell des- 
perately in love with her. 

Dolph was now ushered into the house with a 
hearty welcome. In the interior was a mingled 
display of Heer Antony's taste and habits, and of 
the opulence of his predecessors. The chambers 
were furnished with good old mahogany ; the 
beaufets and cupboards glittered with embossed 
silver and painted china. Over the parlor fire- 
place was, as usual, the family coat-of-arms, painted 
and framed ; above which was a long duck fowling- 
piece, flanked by an Indian pouch, and a powder- 
horn. The room was decorated with many Indian 
articles, such as pipes of peace, tomahawks, scalp- 
ing-knives, hunting-pouches, and belts of wampum ; 
and there were various kinds of fishing-tackle, and 
two or three fowling-pieces in the corners. The 
household affairs seemed to be conducted, in some 
measure, after the master s humors ; corrected, per- 
haps, by a little quiet management of the daugh- 
ter's. There was a great degree of patriarchal 
simplicity, and good-humored indulgence. The 
negroes came into the room without being called, 
merely to look at their master, and hear of his 
adventures ; they would stand listening at the door 
until he had finished a story, and then go ofif on a 
broad grin, to repeat it in the kitchen. A couple 
of pet negro children were playing about the floor 
with the dogs, and sharing with them their bread 



8o Washington Irving. 

and butter. All the domestics looked he irty and 
happy ; and when the table was set for the evening 
^.repast, the variety and abundance of good house- 
hold luxuries bore testimony to the open-handed 
liberality of the Heer, and the notable housewifery 
of his daughter. 

In the evening there dropped in several of the 
worthies of the place, the Van Rensselaers, and 
the Gansevoorts, and the Rosebooms, and others 
of Antony Vander Heyden's intimates, to hear an 
account of his expedition ; for he was the Sinbad 
of Albany, and his exploits and adventures were 
favorite topics of conversation among the inhabi- 
tants. While these sat gossiping together about 
the door of the hall, and telling long twilight 
stories, Dolph was cosily seated, entertaining the 
daughter, on a window-bench. He had already 
got on intimate terms ; for those were not times of 
false reserve and idle ceremony ; and, besides, there 
is something wonderfully propitious to a lovers suit 
in the delightful dusk of a long summer evening ; 
it gives courage to the most timid tongue, and 
hides the blushes of the bashful. The stars alone 
twinkled brightly ; and now and then a fire-fly 
streamed his transient light before the window, or, 
wandering into the room, flew gleaming about the 
ceiling. 

What Dolph whispered in her ear that long 
summer evening, it is impossible to say ; his words 



Dolph Heyliger. 81 

were so low and indistinct, that they never reached 
the ear of the historian. It is probable, however, 
that they were to the purpose ; for he had a natural 
talent at pleasing the sex, and was never long in 
company with a petticoat without paying proper 
court to it In the meantime the visitors, one by 
one, departed ; Antony Vander Heyden, who had 
fairly talked himself silent, sat nodding alone in his 
chair by the door, when he was suddenly aroused 
by a hearty salute with which Dolph Heyliger had 
unguardedly rounded off one of his periods, and 
which echoed through the still chamber like the 
report of a pistol. The Heer started up, rubbed 
his eyes, called for lights, and observed that it was 
high time to go to bed ; though, on parting for the 
night, he squeezed Dolph heartily by the hand, 
looked kindly in his face, and shook his head know- 
ingly ; for the Heer well remembered what he 
himself had been at the youngster's age. 

The chamber in which our hero was lodged was 
spacious, and panelled with oak. It was furnished 
with clothes-presses, and mighty chests of drawers, 
well waxed, and glittering with brass ornaments. 
These contained ample stock of family linen ; for 
the Dutch housewives had always a laudable pride 
in showing off their household treasures to strangers. 

Dolph's mind, however, was too full to take par- 
ticular note of the objects around him ; yet he could 
not help continually comparing the free open- 



32 Washington Irving. 

hearted cheeriness of this establishment with the 
starveling, sordid, joyless housekeeping at Doctor 
Knipperhausen's. Still something marred the en- 
joyment : the idea that he must take leave of his 
hearty host, and pretty hostess, and cast himself 
once more adrift upon the world. To linger here 
would be folly : he should only get deeper in love ; 
and for a poor varlet, like himself, to aspire to the 
daughter of the great Heer Vander Heyden — it 
was madness to think of such a thing ! The very 
kindness that the girl had shown towards him 
prompted him, on reflection, to hasten his de= 
parture ; it would be a poor return for the frank 
hospitality of his host to entangle his daughters 
heart in an injudicious attachment. In a word, 
Dolph was like many other young reasoners of ex- 
ceeding good hearts and giddy heads— who think 
after they act, and act differently from what they 
think,— who make excellent determinations over- 
night, and forget to keep them the next morning. 
" This is a fine conclusion, truly, of my voyage," 
said he, as he almost buried himself in a sumptuous 
feather-bed, and drew the fresh white sheets up to 
his chin. " Here am I, instead of finding a bag of 
money, to carry home, launched in a strange place, 
with scarcely a stiver in my pocket ; and, what is 
worse, have jumped ashore up to my very ears in 
love into the bargain. However," added he, after 
some pause, stretching himself, and turning himself 



Dolph Heyliger. 83 

in bed, (i I 'm in good quarters for the present, at 
least ; so I'll e'en enjoy the present moment, and 
let the next take care of itself ; I dare say all will 
work out, ' somehow or other,' for the best." 

As he said these words, he reached out his hand 
to extinguish the candle, when he was suddenly 
struck with astonishment and dismay, for he thought 
he beheld the phantom of the haunted house, star- 
ing on him from a dusky part of the chamber. A 
second look reassured him, as he perceived that 
what he had taken for the spectre was, in fact, 
nothing but a Flemish portrait, hanging in a 
shadowy corner, just behind a clothes-press. It 
was, however, the precise representation of his 
nightly visitor. The same cloak and belted jerkin, 
the same grizzled beard and fixed eye, the same 
broad slouched hat, with a feather hanging over 
one side. Dolph now called to mind the resem- 
blance he had frequently remarked between his 
host and the old man of the haunted house ; and 
was fully convinced they were in some way con- 
nected, and that some especial destiny had governed 
his voyage. He lay gazing on the portrait with 
almost as much awe as he had gazed on the ghostly 
original, until the shrill house-clock warned him of 
the lateness of the hour. He put out the light ; 
but remained for a long time turning over these 
curious circumstances and coincidences in his mind, 
until he fell asleep. His dreams partook of the 



84 Washington Irving. 

nature of his waking thoughts. He fancied that he 
still lay gazing on the picture, until, by degrees, it be- 
came animated ; that the figure descended from the 
wall, and walked out of the room ; that he followed 
it, and found himself by the well to which the old 
man pointed, smiled on him, and disappeared. 

In the morning, when he waked, he found his 
host standing by his bedside, who gave him a 
hearty morning's salutation, and asked him how he 
had slept. Dolph answered cheerily ; but took 
occasion to inquire about the portrait that hung 
against the wall " Ah," said Heer Antony, " that 's 
a portrait of old Killian Vander Spiegel, once a 
burgomaster of Amsterdam, who, on some popular 
troubles, abandoned Holland, and came over to the 
province during the government of Peter Stuyve- 
sant He was my ancestor by the mother's side, 
and an old miserly curmudgeon he was. When 
the English took possession of New Amsterdam, 
in 1664, he retired into the country. He fell into 
a melancholy, apprehending that his wealth would 
be taken from him and he come to beggary. He 
turned all his property into cash, and used to hide 
it away. He was for a year or two concealed in 
various places, fancying himself sought after by 
the English, to strip him of his wealth ; and finally 
he was found dead in his bed one morning, without 
any one being able to discover where he had con- 
cealed the greater part of his money." 



Dolph Heyliger. 85 

When his host had left the room, Dolph re- 
mained for some time lost in thought. His whole 
mind was occupied by what he had heard. Vander 
Spiegel was his mother's family name ; and he 
recollected to have heard her speak of this very 
Killian Vander Spiegel as one of her ancestors. 
He had heard her say, too, that her father was 
Killian's rightful heir, only that the old man died 
without leaving anything to be inherited. It now 
appeared that Heer Antony was likewise a descend- 
ant, and perhaps an heir also, of this poor rich 
man ; and that thus the Heyligers and the Vander 
Heydens were remotely connected. " What," 
thought he, "if, after all, this is the interpretation 
of my dream, that this is the way I am to make 
my fortune by this voyage to Albany, and that I 
am to find the old man's hidden wealth in the 
bottom of that well? But what an odd round- 
about mode of communicating the matter ! Why 
the plague could not the old goblin have told me 
about the well at once, without sending me all the 
way to Albany, to hear a story that was to send 
me all the way back again ? " 

These thoughts passed through his mind while 
he was dressing. He descended the stairs, full of 
perplexity, when the bright face of Marie Vander 
Heyden suddenly beamed in smiles upon him, and 
seemed to give him a clue to the whole mystery. 
" After all," thought he, "the old goblin is in the 



86 Washington Irving. 

right. If I am to get his wealth, he means that I 
shall marry his pretty descendant ; thus both 
branches of the family will again be united, and 
the property go in the proper channel." 

No sooner did this idea enter his head, than it 
carried conviction with it. He was now all im- 
patience to hurry back and secure the treasure, 
which, he did not doubt, lay at the bottom of the 
well, and which he feared every moment might be 
discovered by some other person. " Who knows," 
thought he, " but this night-walking old fellow of 
the haunted house may be in the habit of haunting 
every visitor, and may give a hint to some shrewder 
fellow than myself, who will take a shorter cut to 
the well than by the way of Albany ? " He wished 
a thousand times that the babbling old ghost was 
laid in the Red Sea, and his rambling portrait with 
him. He was in a perfect fever to depart. Two 
or three days elapsed before any opportunity pre- 
sented for returning down the river. They were 
ages to Dolph, notwithstanding that he was bask- 
ing in the smiles of the pretty Marie, and daily 
getting more and more enamoured. 

At length the very sloop from which he had 
been knocked overboard prepared to make sail. 
Dolph made an awkward apology to his host for 
his sudden departure. Antony Vander Heyden 
was sorely astonished. He had concerted half a 
dozen excursions into the wilderness; and his 



Dolph Heyliger. 87 

Indians were actually preparing for a grand ex- 
pedition to one of the lakes. He took Dolph 
aside, and exerted his eloquence to get him to 
abandon all thoughts of business and to remain 
with him, but in vain ; and he at length gave up 
the attempt, observing, " that it was a thousand 
pities so fine a young man should throw himself 
away." Heer Antony, however, gave him a hearty 
shake by the hand at parting, with a favorite fowl- 
ing-piece, and an invitation to come to his house 
whenever he revisited Albany. The pretty little 
Marie said nothing ; but as he gave her a farewell 
kiss, her dimpled cheek turned pale, and a tear 
stood in her eye, 

Dolph sprang lightly on board of the vessel 
They hoisted sail ; the wind was fair ; they soon 
lost sight of Albany, its green hills and embowered 
islands. They were wafted gayly past the Kaats- 
kill Mountains, whose fairy heights were bright 
and cloudless. They passed prosperously through 
the highlands, without any molestation from the 
Dunderberg goblin and his crew ; they swept on 
across Haverstraw Bay, and by Croton Point, and 
through the Tappaan Zee, and under the Palisa- 
does, until, in the afternoon of the third day, they 
saw the promontory of Hoboken hanging like a 
cloud in the air ; and, shortly after, the roofs of 
the Manhattoes rising out of the water. 

Dolph's first care was to repair to his mother's 



88 Washington Irving. 

house ; for he was continually goaded by the idea 
of the uneasiness she must experience on his ac- 
count. He was puzzling his brains, as he went 
along, to think how he should account for his 
absence without betraying the secrets of the 
haunted house. In the midst of these cogita- 
tions he entered the street in which his mother's 
house was situated, when he was thunderstruck at 
beholding it a heap of ruins. 

There had evidently been a great fire, which had 
destroyed several large houses, and the humble 
dwelling of poor Dame Heyliger had been involved 
in the conflagration. The walls were not so com- 
pletely destroyed, but that Dolph could distinguish 
some traces of the scene of his childhood. The 
fireplace, about which he had often played, still re- 
mained, ornamented with Dutch tiles, illustrating 
passages in Bible history, on which he had many a 
time gazed with admiration. Among the rubbish 
lay the wreck of the good dame's elbow-chair, from 
which she had given him so many a wholesale pre- 
cept ; and hard by it was the family Bible, with brass 
clasps ; now, alas ! reduced almost to a cinder. 

For a moment Dolph was overcome by this 
dismal sight, for he was seized with the fear that 
his mother had perished in the flames. He was 
relieved, however, from his horrible apprehension 
by one of the neighbors, who happened to come by 
and informed him that his mother was yet alive. 



Dolph Heyliger. 89 

The good woman had, indeed, lost everything 
by this unlooked-for calamity ; for the populace 
had been so intent upon saving the fine furni- 
ture of her rich neighbors, that the little tene- 
ment, and the little all of poor Dame Heyliger, 
had been suffered to consume without interruption ; 
nay, had it not been for the gallant assistance of 
her old crony, Peter de Groodt, the worthy dame 
and her cat might have shared the fate of their 
habitation. 

As it was, she had been overcome with fright 
and affliction, and lay ill in body and sick at heart. 
The public, however, had showed her its wonted 
kindness. The furniture of her rich neighbors 
being, as far as possible rescued from the flames ; 
themselves duly and ceremoniously visited and con- 
doled with on the injury of their property, and 
their ladies commiserated on the agitation of their 
nerves ; the public, at length, began to recollect 
something about poor Dame Heyliger. She forth- 
with became again a subject of universal sympathy ; 
everybody pitied her more than ever ; and if pity 
could but have been coined into cash — good Lord ! 
how rich she would have been ! 

It was now determined, in good earnest, that 
something ought to be done for her without delay. 
The Dominie, therefore, put up prayers for her on 
Sunday, in which all the congregation joined most 
heartily. Even Cobus Groesbeek, the alderman, 



90 Washington Irving. 

and Mynheer Milledollar, the great Dutch mer- 
chant, stood up in their pews, and did not spare 
their voices on the occasion ; and it was thought 
the prayers of such great men could not but have 
their due weight. Doctor Knipperhausen, too, 
visited her professionally, and gave her abun- 
dance of advice gratis, and was universally lauded 
for his charity. As to her old friend, Peter de 
Groodt, he was a poor man, whose pity, and 
prayers, and advice could be of but little avail, 
so he gave her all that was in his power — he 
gave her shelter. 

To the humble dwelling of Peter de Groodt, 
then, did Dolph turn his steps. On his way thither 
he recalled all the tenderness and kindness of his 
simple-hearted parent, her indulgence of his errors, 
her blindness to his faults ; and then he bethought 
himself of his own idle, harum-scarum life. "I've 
been a sad scapegrace," said Dolph, shaking his 
head sorrowfully. " I've been a complete sink- 
pocket, that 's the truth of it— But," added he 
briskly, and clasping his hands, " only let her 
live — only let her live- — and I will show myself 
indeed a son ! " 

As Dolph approached the house he met Peter de 
Groodt coming out of it. The old man started 
back aghast, doubting whether it was not a ghost 
that stood before him. It being bright daylight, 
however, Peter soon plucked up heart, satisfied 



Dolph Heyliger. 9 1 

that no ghost dare show his face in such clear 
sunshine. Dolph now learned from the worthy 
sexton the consternation and rumor to which his 
mysterious disappearance had given rise. It had 
been universally believed that he had been spirited 
away by those hobgoblin gentry that infested the 
haunted house ; and old Abraham Vandozer, who 
lived by the great buttonwood-trees, near the three- 
mile stone, affirmed, that he had heard a terrible 
noise in the air, as he was going home late at night, 
which seemed just as if a flock of wild geese were 
overhead, passing off towards the northward, The 
haunted house was, in consequence, looked upon 
with ten times more awe than ever ; nobody would 
venture to pass a night in it for the world, and even 
the doctor had ceased to make his expeditions to it 
in the daytime. 

It required some preparation before Dolph's re- 
turn could be made known to his mother, the poor 
soul having bewailed him as lost ; and her spirits 
having been sorely broken down by a number of 
comforters, who daily cheered her with stories of 
ghosts, and of people carried away by the devil. 
He found her confined to her bed, with the other 
member of the Heyliger family, the good dame's 
cat, purring beside her, but sadly singed, and 
utterly despoiled of those whiskers which were the 
glory of her physiognomy. The poor woman 
threw her arms about Dolph's neck. " My boy ! 



92 Washington Irving. 

my boy ! art thou still alive ? " For a time she 
seemed to have forgotten all her losses and troubles 
in her joy at his return. Even the sage grimalkin 
showed indubitable signs of joy at the return of 
the youngster. She saw, perhaps, that they were 
a forlorn and undone family, and felt a touch of 
that kindliness which fellow-sufferers only know. 
But, in truth, cats are a slandered people ; they 
have more affection in them than the world com- 
monly gives them credit for. 

The good dame's eyes glistened as she saw one 
being at least, besides herself, rejoiced at her son's 
return. " Tib knows thee ! poor dumb beast ! " 
said she, smoothing down the mottled coat of her 
favorite ; then recollecting herself, with a melan- 
choly shake of the head, " Ah, my poor Dolph !" 
exclaimed she, " thy mother can help thee no longer ! 
She can no longer help herself ! What will become 
of thee, my poor boy ! " 

" Mother," said Dolph, " don't talk in that strain ; 
I 've been too long a charge upon you ; it 's now 
my part to take care of you in your old days. 
Come ! be of good cheer ! you, and I, and Tib 
will all see better days. I 'm here, you see, young, 
and sound, and hearty ; then don't let us despair ; 
I dare say things will all, somehow or other, turn 
out for the best" 

While this scene was going on with the Heyliger 
family, the news was carried to Doctor Knipper- 



Dolph Heyliger. 93 

hausen of the safe return of his disciple. The 
little doctor scarce knew whether to rejoice or be 
sorry at the tidings. He was happy at having the 
foul reports which had prevailed concerning his 
country mansion thus disproved ; but he grieved 
at having his disciple, of whom he had supposed 
himself fairly disencumbered, thus drifting back, a 
heavy charge upon his hands. While balancing 
between these two feelings, he was determined by 
the counsels of Frau Ilsy, who advised him to take 
advantage of the truant absence of the youngster, 
and shut the door upon him forever. 

At the hour of bedtime, therefore, when it was 
supposed the recreant disciple would seek his old 
quarters, everything was prepared for his reception. 
Dolph, having talked his mother into a state of 
tranquillity, sought the mansion of his quondam 
master, and raised the knocker with a faltering 
hand. Scarcely, however, had it given a dubious 
rap, when the doctor's head, in a red nightcap, 
popped out of one window, and the housekeeper's, 
in a white nightcap, out of another. He was now 
greeted with a tremendous volley of hard names 
and hard language, mingled with invaluable pieces 
of advice, such as are seldom ventured to be given 
excepting to a friend in distress, or a culprit at the 
bar. In a few moments not a window in the street 
but had its particular nightcap, listening to the 
shrill treble of Frau Ilsy, and the guttural croaking 



94 Washington Irving. 

of Dr. Knipperhausen ; and the word went from 
window to window, " Ah ! here 's Dolph Heyliger 
come back, and at his old pranks again." In short, 
poor Dolph found he was likely to get nothing 
from the doctor but good advice ; a commodity so 
abundant as even to be thrown out of the window ; 
so he was fain to beat a retreat, and take up his 
quarters for the night under the lowly roof of 
honest Peter de Groodt. 

The next morning, bright and early, Dolph was 
out at the haunted house. Everything looked 
just as he had left it. The fields were grass-grown 
and matted, and appeared as if nobody had trav- 
ersed them since his departure. With palpitating 
heart he hastened to the well. He looked down 
into it, and saw that it was of great depth, with 
water at the bottom. He had provided himself 
with a strong line, such as the fishermen use on 
the banks of Newfoundland. At the end was a 
heavy plummet and a large fish-hook. With this 
he began to sound the bottom of the well, and to 
angle about in the water. The water was of some 
depth ; there was also much rubbish, stones from 
the top having fallen in. Several times his hook 
got entangled, and he came near breaking his line. 
Now and then, too, he hauled up mere trash, such 
as the skull of a horse, an iron hoop, and a shat- 
tered iron-bound bucket. He had now been several 
hours employed without finding anything to repay 



Dolph Heyliger. 95 

his trouble, or to encourage him to proceed. He 
began to think himself a great fool, to be thus 
decoyed into a wild-goose chase by mere dreams, 
and was on the point of throwing line and all into 
the well, and giving up all further angling. 

"One more cast of the line," said he, "and that 
shall be the last." As he sounded, he felt the 
plummet slip, as it were, through the interstices of 
loose stones ; and as he drew back the line, he felt 
that the hook had taken hold of something heavy. 
He had to manage his line with great caution, lest 
it should be broken by the strain upon it. By 
degrees the rubbish which lay upon the article he 
had hooked gave way ; he drew it to the surface of 
the water, and what was his rapture at seeing 
something like silver glittering at the end of his 
line ! Almost breathless with anxiety, he drew it 
up to the mouth of the well, surprised at its great 
weight, and fearing every instant that his hook 
would slip from its hold, and his prize tumble again 
to the bottom. At length he landed it safe beside 
the well. It was a great silver porringer, of an 
ancient form, richly embossed, and with armorial 
bearings engraved on its side, similar to those over 
his mother's mantelpiece. The lid was fastened 
down by several twists of wire ; Dolph loosened 
them with a trembling hand, and, on lifting the lid, 
behold ! the vessel was filled with broad golden 
pieces, of a coinage which he had never seen 



9 6 Washington Irving, 

before ! It was evident he had hit on the place 
where Killian Vander Spiegel had concealed his 
treasure. 

Fearful of being seen by some straggler, he 
cautiously retired, and buried his pot of money in 
a secret place. He now spread terrible stories 
about the haunted house, and deterred every one 
from approaching it, while he made frequent visits 
to it in stormy days, when no one was stirring in 
the neighboring fields ; though, to tell the truth, 
he did not care to venture there in the dark. For 
once in his life he was diligent and industrious, and 
followed up his new trade of angling with such 
perseverance and success, that in a little while he 
had hooked up wealth enough to make him, in 
those moderate days, a rich burgher for life. 

It would be tedious to detail minutely the rest 
of this story. To tell how he gradually managed 
to bring his property into use without exciting sur- 
prise and inquiry — how he satisfied all scruples 
with regard to retaining the property, and at the 
same time gratified his own feelings by marrying 
the pretty Marie Vander Heyden, — and how he 
and Heer Antony had many a merry and roving 
expedition together. 

I must not omit to say, however, that Dolph 
took his mother home to live with him, and cher- 
ished her in her old days. The good dame, too, 
had the satisfaction of no longer hearing her son 



Dolph Heyliger. 97 

made the theme of censure ; on the contrary, he 
grew daily in public esteem ; everybody spoke well 
of him and his wines ; and the lordliest burgomaster 
was never known to decline his invitation to dinner. 
Dolph often related, at his own table, the wicked 
pranks which had once been the abhorrence of the 
town ; but they were now considered excellent 
jokes, and the gravest dignitary was fain to hold 
his sides when listening to them. No one was 
more struck with Dolph's increasing merit than his 
old master the doctor ; and so forgiving was Dolph, 
that he absolutely employed the doctor as his 
family physician, only taking care that his pre= 
scriptions should be always thrown out of the 
window. His mother had often her junto of old 
cronies to take a snug cup of tea with her in her 
comfortable little parlor ; and Peter de Groodt, as 
he sat by the fireside, with one of her grandchildren 
on his knee, would many a time congratulate her 
upon her son turning out so great a man ; upon 
which the good old soul would wag her head with 
exultation, and exclaim, " Ah, neighbor, neighbor! 
did I not say that Dolph would one day or other 
hold up his head with the best of them ? " 

Thus did Dolph Heyliger go on, cheerily and 
prosperously, growing merrier as he grew older 
and wiser, and completely falsifying the old proverb 
about money got over the devil's back ; for he 
made good use of his wealth, and became a dis- 



98 Washington Irving. 

tinguished citizen, and a valuable member of the 
community. He was a great promoter of public 
institutions, such as beef-steak societies and catch- 
clubs. He presided at all public dinners, and was 
the first that introduced turtle from the West 
Indies. He improved the breed of race-horses 
and game-cocks, and was so great a patron of 
modest merit, that any one who could sing a good 
song, or tell a good story, was sure to find a place 
at his table. 

He was a member, too, of the corporation, made 
several laws for the protection of game and oysters, 
and bequeathed to the board a large silver punch- 
bowl, made out of the identical porringer before 
mentioned, and which is in the possession of the 
corporation to this very day. 

Finally, he died, in a florid old age, of an apo- 
plexy at a corporation feast, and was buried with 
great honors in the yard of the little Dutch church 
in Garden Street, where his tombstone may still be 
seen with a modest epitaph in Dutch, by his friend 
Mynheer Justus Benson, an ancient and excellent 
poet of the province. 

The foregoing tale rests on better authority than 
most tales of the kind, as I have it at second-hand 
from the lips of Dolph Heyliger himself. He 
never related it till towards the latter part of his 
life, and then in great confidence (for he was very 
discreet), to a few of his particular cronies at his 



Dolph Heyliger. 



99 



own table, over a supernumerary bowl of punch ; 
and, strange as the hobgoblin parts of the story 
may seem, there never was a single doubt expressed 
on the subject by any of his guests. It may not 
be amiss, before concluding, to observe that, in ad- 
dition to his other accomplishments, Dolph Hey- 
liger was noted for being the ablest drawer of the 
long-bow in the whole province. 




KIDD THE PIRATE. 

IN old times, just after the territory of the New 
Netherlands had been wrested from the hands 
of their High Mightinesses, the Lords States-Gen- 
eral of Holland, by King Charles the Second, and 
while it was as yet in an unquiet state, the province 
was a great resort of random adventurers, loose 
livers, and all that class of hap-hazard fellows who 
live by their wits, and dislike the old-fashioned re- 
straint of law and gospel Among these, the fore- 
most were the buccaneers. These were rovers of 
the deep, who perhaps in time of war had been 
educated in those schools of piracy, the privateers ; 
but having once tasted the sweets of plunder, had 
ever retained a hankering after it. There is but a 
slight step from the privateersman to the pirate ; 
both fight for the love of plunder ; only that the 
latter is the bravest, as he dares both the enemy 
and the gallows. 

But in whatever school they had been taught, 
the buccaneers that kept about the English colonies 
were daring fellows, and made sad work in times 

roo 



Kidd the Pirate. 101 

of peace among the Spanish settlements and 
Spanish merchantmen. The easy access to the 
harbor of the Manhattoes, the number of hiding- 
places about its waters, and the laxity of its scarcely 
organized government, made it a great rendezvous 
of the pirates ; where they might dispose of their 
booty, and concert new depredations. As they 
brought home with them wealthy lading of all 
kinds, the luxuries of the tropics, and the sumptuous 
spoils of the Spanish provinces, and disposed of 
them with the proverbial carelessness of freebooters, 
they were welcome visitors to the thrifty traders 
of the Manhattoes. Crews of these desperadoes, 
therefore, the runagates of every country and every 
clime, might be seen swaggering in open day about 
the streets of the little burgh, elbowing its quiet 
mynheers ; trafficking away their rich outlandish 
plunder at half or quarter price to the wary mer- 
chant ; and then squandering their prize money in 
taverns, drinking, gambling, singing, swearing, 
shouting, and astounding the neighborhood with 
midnight brawl and ruffian revelry. 

At length these excesses rose to such a height 
as to become a scandal to the provinces, and to call 
loudly for the interposition of government. Meas- 
ures were accordingly taken to put a stop to the 
widely extended evil, and to ferret this vermin brood 
out of the colonies. 

Among the agents employed to execute this pur- 



io2 Washington Irving. 

pose was the notorious Captain Kidd. He had 
long been an equivocal character ; one of those 
nondescript animals of the ocean that are neither 
fish, flesh, nor fowl. He was somewhat of a trader, 
something more of a smuggler, with a considerable 
dash of the picaroon. He had traded for many 
years among the pirates, in a little rakish mosquito- 
built vessel, that could run into all kinds of waters. 
He knew all their haunts and lurking-places ; was 
always hooking about on mysterious voyages, and 
was as busy as a Mother Cary's chicken in a storm. 

This nondescript personage was pitched upon by 
government as the very man to hunt the pirates by 
sea, upon the good old maxim of " setting a rogue 
to catch a rogue " ; or as otters are sometimes used 
to catch their cousins-german, the fish. 

Kidd accordingly sailed for New York, in 1695, 
in a gallant vessel called the Adventure Galley, well 
armed and duly commissioned. On arriving at his 
old haunts, however, he shipped his crew on new 
terms ; enlisted a number of his old comrades, lads 
of the knife and the pistol ; and then set sail for 
the East. Instead of cruising against pirates, he 
turned pirate himself ; steered to the Madeiras, to 
Bonavista, and Madagascar, and cruised about the 
entrance of the Red Sea. Here, among other 
maritime robberies, he captured a rich Quedah 
merchantman, manned by Moors, though com- 
manded by an Englishman, Kidd would fain 



Kidd the Pirate. 103 

have passed this off for a worthy exploit, as being 
a kind of crusade against the infidels ; but govern- 
ment had long since lost all relish for such Christian 
triumphs. 

After roaming the seas, trafficking his prizes, and 
changing from ship to ship, Kidd had the hardi- 
hood to return to Boston, laden with booty, with a 
crew of swaggering companions at his heels. 

Times, however, were changed. The buccaneers 
could no longer show a whisker in the colonies 
with impunity. The new Governor, Lord Bella- 
mont, had signalized himself by his zeal in extir- 
pating these offenders ; and was doubly exasperated 
against Kidd, having been instrumental in appoint- 
ing him to the trust which he had betrayed. No 
sooner, therefore, did he show himself in Boston, 
than the alarm was given of his reappearance, and 
measures were taken to arrest this cutpurse of the 
ocean. The daring character which Kidd had ac- 
quired, however, and the desperate fellows who 
followed like bull-dogs at his heels, caused a lit- 
tle delay in his arrest. He took advantage of this, 
it is said, to bury the greater part of his treasures, 
and then carried a high head about the streets of 
Boston. He even attempted to defend himself 
when arrested, but was secured and thrown into 
prison, with his followers. Such was the formid- 
able character of this pirate and his crew, that it 
was thought advisable to despatch a frigate to bring 



104 Washington Irving. 

them to England. Great exertions were made to 
screen him from justice, but in vain ; he and his 
comrades were tried, condemned, and hanged at 
Execution Dock in London. Kidd died hard, for 
the rope with which he was first tied up broke with 
his weight, and he tumbled to the ground. He 
was tied up a second time, and more effectually ; 
hence came, doubtless, the story of Kidd's having 
a charmed life, and that he had to be twice hanged. 

Such is the main outline of Kidd's history ; but 
it has given birth to an innumerable progeny of 
traditions. The report of his having buried great 
treasures of gold and jewels before his arrest, set 
the brains of all the good people along the coast 
in a ferment There were rumors on rumors of 
great sums of money found here and there, some- 
times in one part of the country, sometimes in an- 
other ; of coins with Moorish inscriptions, doubtless 
the spoils of his eastern prizes, but which the com- 
mon people looked upon with superstitious awe, 
regarding the Moorish letters as diabolical or magi- 
cal characters. 

Some reported the treasure to have been buried 
in solitary, unsettled places, about Plymouth and 
Cape Cod ; but by degrees various other parts, 
not only on the eastern coast, but along the shores 
of the Sound, and even of Manhattan and Long 
Island, were gilded by these rumors. In fact, the 
rigorous measures of Lord Bellamont spread sud- 




-.:•. 



THE ARREST OF CAPTAIN KIDD. 



Kidd the Pirate. 105 

den consternation among the buccaneers in every 
part of the provinces : they secreted their money 
and jewels in lonely out-of-the-way places, about 
the wild shores of the rivers and sea-coast, and dis- 
persed themselves over the face of the country. 
The hand of justice prevented many of them from 
ever returning to regain their buried treasures, 
which remained, and remain probably to this 
day, as objects of enterprise for the money- 
digger. 

This is the cause of those frequent reports of 
trees and rocks bearing mysterious marks, sup- 
posed to indicate the spots where treasures lay 
hidden ; and many have been the ransackings after 
the pirate's booty. In all the stories which once 
abounded of these enterprises the devil played a 
conspicuous part. Either he was conciliated by 
ceremonies and invocations, or some solemn com- 
pact was made with him. Still he was ever prone 
to play the money-diggers some slippery trick. 
Some would dig so far as to come to an iron chest, 
when some baffling circumstance was sure to take 
place. Either the earth would fall in and fill up 
the pit, or some direful noise or apparition would 
frighten the party from the place : sometimes the 
devil himself would appear, and bear off the prize 
when within their very grasp ; and if they revisited 
the place the next day, not a trace would be found 
of their labors of the preceding night. 



106 Washington Irving. 

All these rumors, however, were extremely vague, 
and for a long time tantalized, without gratifying, 
my curiosity. There is nothing in this world so 
hard to get at as truth, and there is nothing in this 
world but truth that I care for. I sought among 
all my favorite sources of authentic information, 
the oldest inhabitants, and particularly the old 
Dutch wives of the province ; but though I flatter 
myself that I am better versed than most men in 
the curious history of my native province, yet for 
a long time my inquiries were unattended with any 
substantial result. 

At length it happened that, one calm day in the 
later part of summer, I was relaxing myself from 
the toils of severe study, by a day's amusement in 
fishing in those waters which had been the favorite 
resort of my boyhood. I was in company with 
several worthy burghers of my native city, among 
whom were more than one illustrious member of 
the corporation, whose names, did I dare to men- 
tion them, would do honor to my humble page. 
Our sport was indifferent. The fish did not bite 
freely, and we frequently changed our fishing- 
ground without bettering our luck. We were at 
length anchored close under a ledge of rocky coast, 
on the eastern side of the island of Manhatta. It 
was a still, warm day. The stream whirled and 
dimpled by us, without a wave or even a ripple ; 
and everything was so calm and quiet, that it was 



Kidd the Pirate. 107 

almost startling when the kingfisher would pitch 
himself from the branch of some high tree, and sus- 
pending himself for a moment in the air, to take 
his aim, would souse into the smooth water after 
his prey. While we were lolling in our boat, half 
drowsy with the warm stillness of the day, and the 
dulness of our sport, one of our party, a worthy 
alderman, was overtaken by a slumber, and, as he 
dozed, suffered the sinker of his drop-line to lie 
upon the bottom of the river. On waking, he 
found he had caught something of importance 
from the weight. On drawing it to the surface, 
we were much surprised to find it a long pistol of 
very curious and outlandish fashion, which, from 
its rusted condition, and its stock being worm-eaten 
and covered with barnacles, appeared to have lain 
a long time under water. The unexpected appear- 
ance of this document of warfare occasioned much 
speculation among my pacific companions. One 
supposed it to have fallen there during the revolu- 
tionary war ; another, from the peculiarity of its 
fashion, attributed it to the voyagers in the earliest 
days of the settlement ; perchance to the renowned 
Adrian Block, who explored the Sound, and dis- 
covered Block Island, since so noted for its cheese. 
But a third, after regarding it for some time, pro- 
nounced it to be of veritable Spanish workmanship. 
"I'll warrant," said he, "if this pistol could 
talk, it would tell strange stories of hard fights 



io8 Washington Irving. 

among the Spanish Dons. I 've no doubt but it is 
a relic of the buccaneers of old times, — who knows 
but it belonged to Kidd himself ? " 

" Ah ! that Kidd was a resolute fellow/' cried an 
old iron-faced Cape-Cod whaler.-—" There 's a fine 
old song about him, all to the tune of — 

My name is Captain Kidd, 
As I sailed, as I sailed ; — 

and then it tells about how he gained the devil's 
good graces by burying the Bible : — 

I had the Bible in my hand, 

As I sailed, as I sailed, 
And I buried it in the sand, 

As I sailed.—" 

" Odsfish, if I thought this pistol had belonged 
to Kidd, I should set great store by it, for curi- 
osity's sake/' 





THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER. 

A FEW miles from Boston in Massachusetts, 
there is a deep inlet, winding several miles 
into the interior of the country from Charles Bay, 
and terminating in a thickly-wooded swamp or 
morass. On one side of this inlet is a beautiful 
dark grove ; on the opposite side the land rises 
abruptly from the water's edge into a high ridge, 
on which grow a few scattered oaks of great age 
and immense size. Under one of these gigantic 
trees, according to old stories, there was a great 
amount of treasure buried by Kidd the pirate. 
The inlet allowed a facility to bring the money in a 
boat secretly and at night to the very foot of the 
hill ; the elevation of the place permitted a good 
lookout to be kept that no one was at hand ; while 
the remarkable trees formed good landmarks by 
which the place might easily be found again. 
The old stories add, moreover, that the devil pre- 
sided at the hiding of the money, and took it under 
his guardianship ; but this, it is well known, he 
always does with buried treasure, particularly when 

roo 



no Washington Irving. 

it has been ill-gotten, Be that as it may, Kidd 
never returned to recover his wealth ; being 
shortly after seized at Boston, sent out to England 
and there hanged for a pirate. 

About the year 1727, just at the time that earth- 
quakes were prevalent in New England, and shook 
many tall sinners down upon their knees, there 
lived near this place a meagre, miserly fellow, of 
the name of Tom Walker, He had a wife as 
miserly as himself : they were so miserly that they 
even conspired to cheat each other. Whatever the 
woman could lay hands on, she hid away ; a hen 
could not cackle but she was on the alert to secure 
the new-laid egg. Her husband was continually pry- 
ing about to detect her secret hoards, and many 
and fierce were the conflicts that took place about 
what ought to have been common property. They 
lived in a forlorn-looking house that stood alone, 
and had an air of starvation. A few straggling 
savin-trees, emblems of sterility, grew near it ; no 
smoke ever curled from its chimney ; no traveller 
stopped at its door. A miserable horse, whose 
ribs were as articulate as the bars of a grid- 
iron, stalked about a field, where a thin carpet of 
moss, scarcely covering the ragged beds of pudding- 
stone, tantalized and balked his hunger ; and some- 
times he would lean his head over the fence, look 
piteously at the passer-by, and seem to petition 
deliverance from this land of famine. 



The Devil and Tom Walker. in 

The house and its inmates had altogether a bad 
name. Tom's wife was a tall termagant, fierce of 
temper, loud of tongue, and strong of arm. Her 
voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her 
husband ; and his face sometimes showed signs that 
their conflicts were not confined to words. No 
one ventured, however, to interfere between them. 
The lonely wayfarer shrunk within himself at the 
horrid clamor and clapper-clawing ; eyed the den 
of discord askance ; and hurried on his way, rejoic- 
ing, if a bachelor, in his celibacy. 

One day that Tom Walker had been to a distant 
part of the neighborhood, he took what he consid- 
ered a short cut homeward, through the swamp. 
Like most short cuts, it was an ill-chosen route. The 
swamp was thickly grown with great gloomy pines 
and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet high, 
which made it dark at noonday, and a retreat for 
all the owls of the neighborhood. It was full of 
pits and quagmires, partly covered with weeds and 
mosses, where the green surface often betrayed the 
traveller into a gulf of black, smothering mud : 
there were also dark and stagnant pools, the abodes 
of the tadpole, the bull-frog, and the water-snake ; 
where the trunks of pines and hemlocks lay half- 
drowned, half-rotting, looking like alligators sleep- 
ing in the mire. 

Tom had long been picking his way cautiously 
through this treacherous forest ; stepping from tuft 



ii2 Washington Irving. 

to tuft of rushes and roots, which afforded precari- 
ous footholds among deep sloughs ; or pacing care- 
fully, like a cat, along the prostrate trunks of trees ; 
startled now and then by the sudden screaming of 
the bittern, or the quacking of a wild duck rising 
on the wing from some solitary pool. At length 
he arrived at a firm piece of ground, which ran out 
like a peninsula into the deep bosom of the swamp. 
It had been one of the strongholds of the Indians 
during their wars with the first colonists. Here 
they had thrown up a kind of fort, which they had 
looked upon as almost impregnable, and had used 
as a place of refuge for their squaws and children. 
Nothing remained of the old Indian fort but a few 
embankments, gradually sinking to the level of the 
surrounding earth, and already overgrown in part 
by oaks and other forest trees, the foliage of which 
formed a contrast to the dark pines and hemlocks 
of the swamp. 

It was late in the dusk of evening when Tom 
Walker reached the old fort, and he paused there 
awhile to rest himself. Any one but he would have 
felt unwilling to linger in this lonely, melancholy 
place, for the common people had a bad opinion of 
it, from the stories handed down from the time of 
the Indian wars; when it was asserted that the 
savages held incantations here, and made sacrifices 
to the evil spirit. 

Tom Walker, however, was not a man to be 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 113 

troubled with any fears of the kind. He reposed 
himself for some time on the trunk of a fallen hem- 
lock, listening to the boding cry of the tree-toad, 
and delving with his walking-staff into a mound of 
black mould at his feet. As he turned up the soil 
unconsciously, his staff struck against something 
hard. He raked it out of the vegetable mould, and 
lo ! a cloven skull, with an Indian tomahawk buried 
deep in it, lay before him. The rust on the weapon 
showed the time that had elapsed since this death- 
blow had been given. It was a dreary memento of 
the fierce struggle that had taken place in this last 
foothold of the Indian warriors. 

" Humph ! " said Tom Walker, as he gave it a 
kick to shake the dirt from it. 

" Let that skull alone ! " said a gruff voice. Tom 
lifted up his eyes, and beheld a great black man 
seated directly opposite him, on the stump of a tree. 
He was exceedingly surprised, having neither heard 
nor seen any one approach ; and he was still more 
perplexed on observing, as well as the gathering 
gloom would permit, that the stranger was neither 
negro nor Indian. It is true he was dressed 
in a rude half Indian garb, and had a red belt 
or sash swathed round his body ; but his face was 
neither black nor copper-color, but swarthy and 
dingy, and begrimed with soot, as if he had been 
accustomed to toil among fires and forges. He 
had a shock of coarse black hair, that stood 



ii4 Washington Irving. 

out from his head in all directions, and bore an 
axe on his shoulder. 

He scowled for a moment at Tom with a pair of 
great red eyes. 

" What are you doing on my grounds ? " said the 
black man, with a hoarse growling voice. 

"Your grounds!" said Tom, with a sneer, "no 
more your grounds than mine ; they belong to 
Deacon Peabody." 

" Deacon Peabody be d d," said the stranger, 

"as I flatter myself he will be, if he does not look 
more to his own sins and less to those of his neigh- 
bors. Look yonder, and see how Deacon Peabody 
is faring." 

Tom looked in the direction that the stranger 
pointed, and beheld one of the great trees, fair and 
flourishing without, but rotten at the core, and saw 
that it had been nearly hewn through, so that the 
first high wind was likely to blow it down. On the 
bark of the tree was scored the name of Deacon 
Peabody, an eminent man, who had waxed wealthy 
by driving shrewd bargains with the Indians. He 
now looked around, and found most of the tall 
trees marked with the name of some great man 
of the colony, and all more or less scored by the 
axe. The one on which he had been seated, and 
which had evidently just been hewn down, bore 
the name of Crowninshield ; and he recollected 
a mighty rich man of that name, who made a 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 115 

vulgar display of wealth, which it was whispered 
he had acquired by buccaneering. 

"He's just ready for burning !" said the black 
man, with a growl of triumph. " You see I am 
likely to have a good stock of firewood for winter." 

" But what right have you," said Tom, " to cut 
down Deacon Peabody's timber ? " 

"The right of a prior claim," said the other. 
" This woodland belonged to me long before one 
of your white-faced race put foot upon the soil." 

" And pray, who are you, if I may be so bold ? " 
said Tom. 

" Oh, I go by various names. I am the wild 
huntsman in some countries ; the black miner in 
others. In this neighborhood I am known by the 
name of the black woodsman. I am he to whom 
the red men consecrated this spot, and in honor of 
whom they now and then roasted a white man, by 
way of sweet-smelling sacrifice. Since the red men 
have been exterminated by you white savages, I 
amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of 
Quakers and Anabaptists ; I am the great patron 
and prompter of slave-dealers, and the grand-mas- 
ter of the Salem witches." 

" The upshot of all which is, that, if I mistake 
not," said Tom, sturdily, " you are he commonly 
called Old Scratch." 

"The same, at your service!" replied the black 
man, with a half civil nod. 



n6 Washington Irving. 

Such was the opening of this interview, accord- 
ing to the old story ; though it has almost too 
familiar an air to be credited. One would think that 
to meet with such a singular personage, in this 
wild, lonely place, would have shaken any man's 
nerves ; but Tom was a hard-minded fellow, not 
easily daunted, and he had lived so long with a 
termagant wife, that he did not even fear the devil. 

It is said that after this commencement they had 
a long and earnest conversation together, as Tom 
returned homeward. The black man told him of 
great sums of money buried by Kidd the pirate, 
under the oak-trees on the high ridge, not far from 
the morass. All these were under his command, 
and protected by his power, so that none could 
find them but such as propitiated his favor. These 
he offered to place within Tom Walker's reach 
having conceived an especial kindness for him ; 
but they were to be had only on certain conditions. 
What these conditions were may be easily sur- 
mised, though Tom never disclosed them publicly. 
They must have been very hard, for he required 
time to think of them, and he was not a man to 
stick at trifles when money was in view. When 
they had reached the edge of the swamp, the 
stranger paused. " What proof have I that all you 
have been telling me is true ? " said Tom. " There 's 
my signature," said the black man, pressing his 
finger on Tom's forehead. So saying he turned 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 117 

off among the thickets of the swamp, and seemed, 
as Tom said, to go down, down, down, into the 
earth, until nothing but his head and shoulders 
could be seen, and so on, until he totally disappeared. 

When Tom reached home, he found the black 
print of a finger burnt, as it were, into his fore- 
head, which nothing could obliterate. 

The first news his wife had to tell him was the sud- 
den death of Absalom Crowninshield, the rich bucca- 
neer. It was announced in the papers with the usual 
flourish, that " A great man had fallen in Israel." 

Tom recollected the tree which his black friend 
had just hewn down, and which was ready for 
burning, " Let the freebooter roast," said Tom, 
"who cares ! " He now felt convinced that all he 
had heard and seen was no illusion. 

He was not prone to let his wife into his con- 
fidence ; but as this was an uneasy secret, he 
willingly shared it with her. All her avarice was 
awakened at the mention of hidden gold, and she 
urged her husband to comply with the black man's 
terms, and secure what would make them wealthy 
for life. However Tom might have felt disposed 
to sell himself to the Devil, he was determined not 
to do so to oblige his wife ; so he flatly refused, 
out of the mere spirit of contradiction. Many and 
bitter were the quarrels they had on the subject ; 
but the more she talked, the more resolute was 
Tom not to be damned to please her. 



n8 Washington Irving. 

At length she determined to drive the bargain 
on her own account, and if she succeeded, to keep 
all the gain to herself. Being of the same fearless 
temper as her husband, she set off for the old 
Indian fort towards the close of a summer's day. 
She was many hours absent. When she came 
back, she was reserved and sullen in her replies. 
She spoke something of a black man, whom she 
had met about twilight hewing at the root of a tall 
tree. He was sulky, however, and would not come 
to terms : she was to go again with a propitiatory 
offering, but what it was she forebore to say. 

The next evening she set off again for the 
swamp, with her apron heavily laden. Tom waited 
and waited for- her, but in vain ; midnight came, 
but she did not make her appearance, morning, 
noon, night returned, but still she did not come. 
Tom now grew uneasy for her safety, especially as 
he found she had carried off in her apron the silver 
tea-pot and spoons, and every portable article of 
value. Another night elapsed, another morning 
came ; but no wife. In a word, she was never 
heard of more. 

What was her real fate nobody knows, in conse- 
quence of so many pretending to know. It is one 
of those facts which have become confounded by a 
variety of historians. Some asserted that she lost 
her way among the tangled mazes of the swamp, 
and sank into some pit or slough ; others, more un- 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 119 

charitable, hinted that she had eloped with the 
household booty, and made off to some other prov- 
ince ; while others surmised that the tempter had 
decoyed her into a dismal quagmire, on the top of 
which her hat was found lying. In confirmation of 
this, it was said a black man, with an axe on his 
shoulder, was seen late that very evening coming 
out of the swamp, carrying a bundle tied in a check 
apron, with an air of surly triumph. 

The most current and probable story, however, 
observes, that Tom Walker grew so anxious about 
the fate of his wife and his property, that he set 
out at length to seek them both at the Indian fort. 
During a long summer's afternoon he searched 
about the gloomy place, but no wife was to be seen. 
He called her name repeatedly, but she was no- 
where to be heard. The bittern alone responded 
to his voice, as he flew screaming by ; or the bull- 
frog croaked dolefully from a neighboring pool. At 
length, it is said, just in the brown hour of twilight, 
when the owls began to hoot, and the bats to flit 
about, his attention was attracted by the clamor of 
carrion crows hovering about a cypress-tree. He 
looked up, and beheld a bundle tied in a check apron, 
and hanging in the branches of the tree, with a great 
vulture perched hard by, as if keeping watch upon 
it. He leaped with joy ; for he recognized his 
wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the house- 
hold valuables. 



i2o Washington Irving. 

" Let us get hold of the property," said he, con- 
solingly to himself, " and we will endeavor to do 
without the woman/' 

As he scrambled up the tree, the vulture spread 
its wide wings, and sailed off, screaming, into the 
deep shadows of the forest. Tom seized the 
checked apron, but, woful sight ! found nothing but 
a heart and liver tied up in it ! 

Such, according to this most authentic old story, 
was all that was to be found of Tom's wife. She had 
probably attempted to deal with the black man as 
she had been accustomed to deal with her husband ; 
but though a female scold is generally considered a 
match for the devil, yet in this instance she appears 
to have had the worst of it. She must have died 
game, however ; for it is said Tom noticed many 
prints of cloven feet deeply stamped about the tree, 
and found handfuls of hair, that looked as if they had 
been plucked from the coarse black shock of the 
woodman. Tom knew his wife's prowess by ex- 
perience. He shrugged his shoulders, as he looked 
at the signs of a fierce clapper-clawing. " Egad," 
said he to himself, " Old Scratch must have had a 
tough time of it ! " 

Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, 
with the loss of his wife, for he was a man of forti- 
tude. He even felt something like gratitude tow- 
ards the black woodman, who, he considered, had 
clone him a kindness. He sought, therefore, to 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 121 

cultivate a further acquaintance with him, but for 
some time without success ; the old black-legs 
played shy, for whatever people may think, he is 
not always to be had for calling for : he knows how 
to play his cards when pretty sure of his game. 

At length, it is said, when delay had whetted 
Tom's eagerness to the quick, and prepared him to 
agree to anything rather than not gain the prom- 
ised treasure, he met the black man one evening in 
his usual woodman's dress, with his axe on his 
shoulder, sauntering along the swamp, and hum- 
ming a tune. He affected to receive Tom's ad- 
vances with great indifference, made brief replies, 
and went on humming his tune. 

By degrees, however, Tom brought him to busi- 
ness, and they began to haggle about the terms on 
which the former was to have the pirate's treasure. 
There was one condition which need not be men- 
tioned, being generally understood in all cases 
where the devil grants favors ; but there were 
others about which, though of less importance, he 
was inflexibly obstinate. He insisted that the 
money found through his means should be em- 
ployed in his service. He proposed, therefore, that 
Tom should employ it in the black traffic, that is to 
say, that he should fit out a slave-ship. This, how- 
ever, Tom resolutely refused : he was bad enough 
in all conscience ; but the devil himself could not 
tempt him to turn slave-trader. 



122 Washington Irving. 

Finding Tom so squeamish on this point, he did 
not insist upon it, but proposed, instead, that he 
should turn usurer ; the devil being extremely anx- 
ious for the increase of usurers, looking upon them 
as his peculiar people. 

To this no objections were made, for it was just 
to Tom's taste. 

" You shall open a broker's shop in Boston next 
month," said the black man. 

" I '11 do it to-morrow, if you wish/' said Tom 
Walker. 

" You shall lend money at two per cent, a 
month." 

" Egad, I '11 charge four ! " replied Tom Walker. 

"You shall extort bonds, foreclose mortgages, 
drive the merchants to bankruptcy — 

" I '11 drive them to the d— — 1," cried Tom 
Walker. 

" You are the usurer for my money ! " said black- 
legs with delight. " When will you want the 
rhino ? " 

" This very night." 

" Done ! " said the devil. 

" Done ! " said Tom Walker. So they shook 
hands and struck a bargain. 

A few days' time saw Tom Walker seated be- 
hind his desk in a counting-house in Boston. 

His reputation for a ready-moneyed man, who 
would lend money out for a good consideration, 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 123 

soon spread abroad. Everybody remembers the 
time of Governor Belcher, when money was par- 
ticularly scarce. It was a time of paper credit. 
The country had been deluged with government 
bills, the famous Land Bank had been established ; 
there had been a rage for speculating ; the people 
had run mad with schemes for new settlements ; 
for building cities in the wilderness ; land-jobbers 
went about with maps of grants, and townships, 
and Eldorados, lying nobody knew where, but 
which everybody was ready to purchase. In a 
word, the great speculating fever which breaks out 
every now and then in the country, had raged to 
an alarming degree, and everybody was dreaming 
of making sudden fortunes from nothing. As 
usual the fever had subsided ; the dream had gone 
off, and the imaginary fortunes with it ; the patients 
were left in doleful plight, and the whole country 
resounded with the consequent cry of "hard 
times." 

At this propitious time of public distress did 
Tom Walker set up as usurer in Boston. His door 
was soon thronged by customers. The needy and 
adventurous ; the gambling speculator ; the dream- 
ing land-jobber ; the thriftless tradesman ; the 
merchant with cracked credit ; in short, every one 
driven to raise money by desperate means and 
desperate sacrifices, hurried to Tom Walker. 

Thus Tom was the universal friend of the needy, 



124 Washington Irving. 

and acted like a " friend in need " that is to say, he 
always exacted good pay and good security. In 
proportion to the distress of the applicant was the 
hardness of his terms. He accumulated bonds 
and mortgages ; gradually squeezed his customers 
closer and closer : and sent them at length, dry as 
a sponge, from his door. 

In this way he made money hand over hand ; 
became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his 
cocked hat upon 'Change. He built himself, as 
usual, a vast house, out of ostentation ; but left 
the greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished, 
out of parsimony. He even set up a carriage in 
the fulness of his vainglory, though he nearly 
starved the horses which drew it ; and as the un= 
greased wheels groaned and screeched on the axle- 
trees, you would have thought you heard the souls 
of the poor debtors he was squeezing. 

As Tom waxed old, however, he grew thought- 
ful. Having secured the good things of this world, 
he began to feel anxious about those of the next. 
He thought with regret on the bargain he had 
made with his black friend, and set his wits to work 
to cheat him out of the conditions. He became, 
therefore, all of a sudden, a violent church-goer. 
He prayed loudly and strenuously, as if heaven 
were to be taken by force of lungs. Indeed, one 
might always tell when he had sinned most during 
the week, by the clamor of his Sunday devotion. 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 125 

The quiet Christians who had been modestly and 
steadfastly travelling Zionward, were struck with 
self-reproach at seeing themselves so suddenly out- 
stripped in their career by this new-made convert. 
Tom was as rigid in religious as in money matters ; 
he was a stern supervisor and censurer of his neigh- 
bors, and seemed to think every sin entered up to 
their account became a credit on his own side of the 
page. H e even talked of the expediency of reviving 
the persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists. In a 
word, Tom's zeal became as notorious as his riches. 

Still, in spite of all this strenuous attention to 
forms, Tom had a lurking dread that the devil, 
after all, would have his due. That he might not 
be taken unawares, therefore, it is said he always 
carried a small Bible in his coat-pocket. He had 
also a great folio Bible on his counting-house desk, 
and would frequently be found reading it when 
people called on business ; on such occasions he 
would lay his green spectacles in the book, to mark 
the place, while he turned round to drive some 
usurious bargain. 

Some say that Tom grew a little crack-brained 
in his old days, and that, fancying his end approach- 
ing, he had his horse new shod, saddled and bridled, 
and buried with his feet uppermost ; because he 
supposed that at the last day the world would be 
turned upside down ; in which case he should find 
his horse standing ready for mounting, and he was 



126 Washington Irving. 

determined at the worst to give his old friend a run 
for it This, however, is probably a mere old wives* 
fable. If he really did take such a precaution, it 
was totally superfluous ; at least so says the authen- 
tic old legend ; which closes his story in the follow- 
ing manner. 

One hot summer afternoon in the dog-days, just 
as a terrible black thunder-gust was coming up, 
Tom sat in his counting-house, in his white linen 
cap and India silk morning-gown. He was on the 
point of foreclosing a mortgage, by which he would 
complete the ruin of an unlucky land-speculator for 
whom he had professed the greatest friendship. 
The poor land-jobber begged him to grant a few 
months' indulgence. Tom had grown testy and 
irritated, and refused another day. 

" My family will be ruined, and brought upon 
the parish," said the land-jobber. "Charity begins 
at home," replied Tom ; "I must take care of my- 
self in these hard times." 

" You have made so much money out of me," 
said the speculator. 

Tom lost his patience and his piety. " The 
devil take me," said he, "if I have made a far- 
thing ! " 

Just then there were three loud knocks at the 
street-door. He stepped out to see who was there. 
A black man was holding a black horse, which 
neighed and stamped with impatience. 



The Devil and Tom Walker. 127 

" Tom, you 're come for," said the black fellow, 
gruffly. Tom shrank back, but too late. He had 
left his little Bible at the bottom of his coat-pocket, 
and his big Bible on the desk buried under the 
mortgage he was about to forclose : never was 
sinner taken more unawares. The black man 
whisked him like a child into the saddle, gave the 
horse the lash, and away he galloped, with Tom 
on his back, in the midst of the thunder-storm. 
The clerks stuck their pens behind their ears, and 
stared after him from the windows. Away went 
Tom Walker, dashing down the streets ; his white 
cap bobbing up and down ; his morning-gown 
fluttering in the wind, and his steed striking fire 
out of the pavement at every bound. When the 
clerks turned to look for the black man, he had 
disappeared. 

Tom Walker never returned to forclose the 
mortgage, A countryman, who lived on the bor- 
der of the swamp, reported that in the height of 
the thunder-gust he had heard a great clattering of 
hoofs and a howling along the road, and running 
to the window caught sight of a figure, such as I 
have described, on a horse that galloped like mad 
across the fields, over the hills, and down into the 
black hemlock swamp towards the old Indian fort ; 
and that shortly after a thunder-bolt falling in that 
direction seemed to set the whole forest in a blaze. 

The good people of Boston shook their heads 



128 Washington Irving. 

and shrugged their shoulders, but had been sc 
much accustomed to witches and goblins, and tricks 
of the devil, in all kinds of shapes, from the first 
settlement of the colony, that they were not so 
much horror-struck as might have been expected. 
Trustees were appointed to take charge of Tom's 
effects. There was nothing, however, to adminis- 
ter upon. On searching his coffers, all his bonds 
and mortgages were found reduced to cinders. In 
place of gold and silver, his iron chest was filled 
with chips and shavings ; two skeletons lay in his 
stable instead of his half-starved horses, and the 
very next day his great house took fire and was 
burnt to the ground. 

Such was the end of Tom Walker and his ill- 
gotten wealth. Let all griping money-brokers lay 
this story to heart. The truth of it is not to be 
doubted. The very hole under the oak-trees, 
whence he dug Kidd's money, is to be seen to this 
day; and the neighboring swamp and old Indian 
fort are often haunted in stormy nights by a figure 
on horseback, in morning-gown and white cap, 
which is doubtless the troubled spirit of the usurer. 
In fact, the story has resolved itself into a proverb, 
and is the origin of that popular saying, so prev- 
alent throughout New England, of "The Devil 
and Tom Walker." 









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RIP VAN WINKLE. 

A POSTHUMOUS WRITING OF DIEDRICH KNICKER- 
BOCKER. 

" By Woden, God of Saxons, 
From whence comes Wensday, that is Wodensday, 
Truth is a thing that ever I will keep 
Unto thylke day in which I creep into 

My sepulchre " 

Cartwright. 



WHOEVER has made a voyage up the Hud- 
son must remember the Kaatskill moun- 
tains. They are a dismembered branch of the 
great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the 
west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, 
and lording it over the surrounding country. 
Every change of season, every change of weather, 
indeed, every hour of the day, produces some 
change in the magical hues and shapes of these 
mountains, and they are regarded by all the good 
wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When 
the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in 
blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on 

9 129 



130 Washington Irving. 

the clear evening sky ; but, sometimes, when the 
rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather 
a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, 
in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and 
light up like a crown of glory. 

At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager 
may have descried the light smoke curling up from 
a village, whose shingle-roofs gleam among the 
trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt 
away into the fresh green of the nearer landscape. 
It is a little village of great antiquity, having been 
founded by some of the Dutch colonists, in the 
early times of the province, just about the begin- 
ning of the government of the good Peter Stuy- 
vesant, (may he rest in peace !) and there were 
some of the houses of . the original settlers standing 
within a few years, built of small yellow bricks 
brought from Holland, having latticed windows and 
gable fronts, surmounted with weather-cocks. 

In that same village, and in one of these very 
houses (which, to tell the precise truth, was sadly 
time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many 
years since, while the country was yet a province 
of Great Britain, a simple good-natured fellow of 
the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a descend- 
ant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly 
in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and 
accompanied him to the siege of Fort Christina. 
He inherited, however, but little of the martial 



Rip Van Winkle. 131 

character of his ancestors. I have observed that 
he was a simple, good-natured man ; he was, more- 
over, a kind neighbor, and an obedient, hen-pecked 
husband. Indeed, to the latter circumstance might 
be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him 
such universal popularity ; for those men are most 
apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who 
are under the discipline of shrews at home. Their 
tempers, doubtless, are rendered pliant and mal- 
leable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation ; 
and a curtain lecture is worth all the sermons 
in the world for teaching the virtues of patience 
and long-suffering. A termagant wife may, there- 
fore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable 
blessing ; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice 
blessed. 

Certain it is, that he was a great favorite among 
all the good wives of the village, who, as usual, 
with the amiable sex, took his part in all family 
squabbles ; and never failed, whenever they talked 
those matters over in their evening gossipings, to 
lay all the blame on Dame Van Winkle. The 
children of the village, too, would shout with joy 
whenever he approached. He assisted at their 
sports, made their playthings, taught them to fly 
kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories 
of ghosts, witches, and Indians. Whenever he 
went dodging about the village, he was surrounded 
by a troop of them, hanging on his skirts, clamber- 



132 Washington Irving, 

ing on his back, and playing a thousand tricks on 
him with impunity ; and not a dog would bark at 
him throughout the neighborhood. 

The great error in Rip's composition was an 
insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor. 
It could not be from the want of assiduity or per- 
severance ; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a 
rod as long and heavy as a Tartar's lance, and fish 
all day without a murmur, even though he should 
not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would 
carry a fowling-piece on his shoulder for hours 
together, trudging through woods and swamps, 
and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels 
or wild pigeons. He would never refuse to assist 
a neighbor even in the roughest toil, and was a 
foremost man at all country frolics for husking 
Indian corn, or building stone fences ; the women 
of the village, too, used to employ him to run their 
errands, and to do such little odd jobs as their less 
obliging husbands would not do for them. In a 
word Rip was ready to attend to anybody's busi- 
ness but his own ; but as to doing family duty, and 
keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible. 

In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on 
his farm ; it was the most pestilent little piece of 
ground in the whole country ; everything about it 
went wrong, and would go wrong, in spite of him. 
His fences were continually falling to pieces ; his 
cow would either go astray, or get among the cab- 



Rip Van Winkle. 133 

bages ; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his 
fields than anywhere else ; the rain always made a 
point of setting in just as he had some out-door 
work to do ; so that though his patrimonial estate 
had dwindled away under his management, acre 
by acre, until there was little more left than a mere 
patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it was the 
worst conditioned farm in the neighborhood. 

His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if 
they belonged to nobody. His son Rip, an urchin 
begotten in his own likeness, promised to inherit 
the habits, with the old clothes of his father. He 
was generally seen trooping like a colt at his 
mother's heels, equipped in a pair of his father's 
cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to 
hold up with one hand, as a fine lady does her 
train in bad weather. 

Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those 
happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, 
who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, 
whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, 
and would rather starve on a penny than work for 
a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled 
life away in perfect contentment ; but his wife kept 
continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, 
his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on 
his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue 
was incessantly going, and everything he said or 
did was sure to produce a torrent of household 



134 Washington Irving. 

eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to 
all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, 
had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoul- 
ders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said 
nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh 
volley from his wife; so that he was fain to draw 
off his forces, and take to the outside of the house 
—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a hen- 
pecked husband. 

Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, 
who was as much hen-pecked as his master; for 
Dame Van Winkle regarded them as companions 
in idleness, and even looked upon Wolf with an 
evil eye, as the cause of his master's going so often 
astray. True it is, in all points of spirit befitting 
an honorable dog, he was as courageous an animal 
as ever scoured the woods—but what courage can 
withstand the ever-during and all-be-setting terrors 
of a woman's tongue ? The moment Wolf entered 
the house his crest fell, his tail drooped to the 
ground, or curled between his legs, he sneaked 
about with a gallows air, casting many a sidelong 
glance at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least 
flourish of a broomstick or ladle, he would fly to 
the door with yelping precipitation. 

Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van 
Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on ; a tart 
temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue 
is the only edged tool that grows keener with con- 



Rip Van Winkle. 135 

stant use. For a long while he used to console 
himself, when driven from home, by frequenting a 
kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, 
and other idle personages of the village ; which 
held its sessions on a bench before a small inn, 
designated by a rubicund portrait of His Majesty 
George the Third. Here they used to sit in the 
shade through a long lazy summers day, talking 
listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless sleepy 
stones about nothing. But it would have been 
worth any statesman's money to have heard the 
profound discussions that sometimes took place, 
when by chance an old newspaper fell into their 
hands from some passing traveller. How solemnly 
they would listen to the contents, as drawled out 
by Derrick Van Bummel, the schoolmaster, a dap- 
per learned little man, who was not to be daunted 
by the most gigantic word in the dictionary ; and 
how sagely they would deliberate upon the public 
events some months after they had taken place. 

The opinions of this junto were completely con- 
trolled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the vil- 
lage, and landlord of the inn, at the door of which 
he took his seat from morning till night, just mov- 
ing sufficiently to avoid the sun and keep in the 
shade of a large tree ; so that the neighbors could 
tell the hour by his movements as accurately as by 
a sun-dial. It is true he was rarely heard to speak, 
but smoked his pipe incessantly. His adherents, 



136 Washington Irving. 

however (for every great man has his adherents), 
perfectly understood him, and knew how to gather 
his opinions. When any thing that was read or re- 
lated displeased him, he was observed to smoke his 
pipe vehemently, and to send forth short, frequent 
and angry puffs ; but when pleased, he would inhale 
the smoke slowly and tranquilly, and emit it in 
light and placid clouds ; and sometimes, taking the 
pipe from his mouth, and letting the fragrant vapor 
curl about his nose, would gravely nod his head in 
token of perfect approbation. 

From even this stronghold the unlucky Rip was 
at length routed by his termagant wife, who would 
suddenly break in upon the tranquillity of the 
assemblage and call the members all to naught ; 
nor was that august personage, Nicholas Vedder 
himself, sacred from the daring tongue of this ter- 
rible virago, who charged him outright with 
encouraging her husband in habits of idleness. 

Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair ; 
and his only alternative, to escape from the labor 
of the farm and clamor of his wife, was to take 
gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. 
Here he would sometimes seat himself at the foot 
of a tree, and share the contents of his wallet with 
Wolf, with whom he sympathized as a fellow-suf- 
ferer in persecution. " Poor Wolf," he would say, 
" thy mistress leads thee a dogs life of it ; but 
never mind, my lad, whilst I live thou shalt never 



Rip Van Winkle. 137 

want a friend to stand by thee ! " Wolf would wag 
his tail, look wistfully in his master's face, and if 
dogs can feel pity I verily believe he reciprocated 
the sentiment with all his heart. 

In a long ramble of the kind on a fine autumnal 
day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to one of the 
highest parts of the Kaatskill mountains. He was 
after his favorite sport of squirrel shooting, and the 
still solitudes had echoed and re-echoed with the 
reports of his gun. Panting and fatigued, he threw 
himself, late in the afternoon, on a green knoll, 
covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the 
brow of a precipice. From an opening between 
the trees he could overlook all the lower country 
for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a 
distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, 
moving on its silent but majestic course, with the 
reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging 
bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, 
and at last losing itself in the blue highlands. 

On the other side he looked down into a deep 
mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom 
filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and 
scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting 
sun. For some time Rip lay musing on this scene ; 
evening was gradually advancing ; the mountains 
began to throw their long blue shadows over the 
valleys ; he saw that it would be dark long before 
he could reach the village, and he heaved a heavy 



138 Washington Irving. 

sigh when he thought of encountering the terrors 
of Dame Van Winkle. 

As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from 
a distance, hallooing, " Rip Van Winkle ! Rip Van 
Winkle ! " He looked round, but could see nothing 
but a crow winging its solitary flight across the 
mountain. He thought his fancy must have de- 
ceived him, and turned again to descend, when he 
heard the same cry ring through the still evening 
air : " Rip Van Winkle ! Rip Van Winkle ! "—at 
the same time Wolf bristled up his back, and 
giving a low growl, skulked to his masters side, 
looking fearfully down into the glen. Rip now 
felt a vague apprehension stealing over him ; he 
looked anxiously in the same direction, and per- 
ceived a strange figure slowly toiling up the rocks, 
and bending under the weight of something he 
carried on his back. He was surprised to see any 
human being in this lonely and unfrequented 
place, but supposing it to be some one of the 
neighborhood in need of his assistance, he hastened 
down to yield it. 

On nearer approach he was still more surprised 
at the singularity of the strangers appearance. 
He was a short square-built old fellow, with thick 
bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was 
of the antique Dutch fashion — a cloth jerkin 
strapped round the waist — several pair of breeches, 
the outer one of ample volume, decorated with 



Rip Van Winkle. 139 

rows of buttons down the sides, and bunches at the 
knees. He bore on his shoulder a stout keg, that 
seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to 
approach and assist him with the load. Though 
rather shy and distrustful of this new acquaintance, 
Rip complied with his usual alacrity ; and mutually 
relieving one another, they clambered up a narrow 
gully, apparently the dry bed of a mountain tor- 
rent. As they ascended, Rip every now and then 
heard long rolling peals, like distant thunder, that 
seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft, 
between lofty rocks, toward which their rugged 
path conducted. He paused for an instant, but 
supposing it to be the muttering of one of those 
transient thunder-showers which often take place in 
mountain heights, he proceeded. Passing through 
the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a small 
amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular preci- 
pices, over the brinks of which impending trees 
shot their branches, so that you only caught glimp- 
ses of the azure sky and the bright evening cloud. 
During the whole time Rip and his companion had 
labored on in silence ; for though the former mar- 
velled greatly what could be the object of carrying 
a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there 
was something strange and incomprehensible about 
the unknown, that inspired awe and checked 
familiarity. 

On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of 



H° Washington Irving. 

wonder presented themselves. On a level spot in 
the centre was a company of odd-looking person- 
ages playing at ninepins. They were dressed in a 
quaint outlandish fashion ; some wore short doub- 
lets, others jerkins, with long knives in their belts, 
and most of them had enormous breeches, of simi- 
lar style with that of the guide's. Their visages, 
too, were peculiar : one had a large beard, broad 
face, and small piggish eyes ; the face of another 
seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was sur- 
mounted by a white sugar-loaf hat set off with a 
little red cock's tail. They all had beards, of vari- 
ous shapes and colors. There was one who seemed 
to be the commander. He was a stout old gentle- 
man, with a weather-beaten countenance ; he wore 
a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, high- 
crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high- 
heeled shoes, with roses in them. The whole 
group reminded Rip of the figures in an old Flem- 
ish painting, in the parlor of Dominie Van Shaick, 
the village parson, and which had been brought 
over from Holland at the time of the settlement. 

What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that 
though these folks were evidently amusing them- 
selves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the 
most mysterious silence, and were, withal, the most 
melancholy party of pleasure he had ever wit- 
nessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the 
scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever 




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Rip Van Winkle. 141 

they were rolled, echoed along the mountains like 
rumbling peals of thunder. 

As Rip and his companion approached them, 
they suddenly desisted from their play, and stared 
at him with such fixed statue-like gaze, and such 
strange, uncouth, lack-lustre countenances, that his 
heart turned within him, and his knees smote to- 
gether. His companion now emptied the contents 
of the keg into large flagons, and made signs to him 
to wait upon the company. He obeyed with fear 
and trembling ; they quaffed the liquor in profound 
silence, and then returned to their game. 

By degrees Rip's awe and apprehension sub- 
sided. He even ventured, when no eye was fixed 
upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found 
had much of the flavor of excellent Hollands. He 
was naturally a thirsty soul, and was soon tempted 
to repeat the draught. One taste provoked an- 
other ; and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so 
often that at length his senses were overpowered, 
his eyes swam in his head, his head gradually de- 
clined, and he fell into a deep sleep. 

On waking, he found himself on the green knoll 
whence he had first seen the old man of the glen. 
He rubbed his eyes — it was a bright sunny morn- 
ing. The birds were hopping and twittering 
among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling 
aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze. 
" Surely," thought Rip, " I have not slept here all 



H 2 Washington Irving. 

night." He recalled the occurrences before he fell 
asleep. The strange man with a keg of liquor — 
the mountain ravine — the wild retreat among the 
rocks — the woe-begone party at ninepins — the 
flagon — " Oh ! that flagon ! that wicked flagon ! " 
thought Rip — "what excuse shall I make to Dame 
Van Winkle ! " 

He looked round for his gun, but in place of the 
clean well-oiled fowling-piece, he found an old fire- 
lock lying by him, the barrel incrusted with rust, 
the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten. He 
now suspected that the grave roysters of the 
mountain had put a trick upon him, and, having 
dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun. 
Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he might have 
strayed away after a squirrel or partridge. He 
whistled after him and shouted his name, but all in 
vain ; the echoes repeated his whistle and shout, 
but no dog was to be seen. 

He determined to revisit the scene of the last 
evening's gambol, and if he met with any of the 
party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to 
walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and want- 
ing in his usual activity. " These mountain beds 
do not agree with me," thought Rip, " and if this 
frolic should lay me up with a fit of the rheuma- 
tism, I shall have a blessed time with Dame Van 
Winkle." With some difficulty he got down into 
the glen : he found the gully up which he and his 



Rip Van Winkle. 143 

companion had ascended the preceding evening ; 
but to his astonishment a mountain stream was 
now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock, 
and filling the glen with babbling murmurs. He, 
however, made shift to scramble up its sides, work- 
ing his toilsome way through thickets of birch, 
sassafras, and witch-hazel, and sometimes tripped 
up or entangled by the wild grapevines that twisted 
their coils or tendrils from tree to tree, and spread 
a kind of network in his path. 

At length he reached to where the ravine had 
opened through the cliffs to the amphitheatre ; but 
no traces of such opening remained. The rocks 
presented a high impenetrable wall, over which the 
torrent came tumbling in a sheet of feathery foam, 
and fell into a broad deep basin, black from the 
shadows of the surrounding forest. Here, then, 
poor Rip was brought to a stand. He again called 
and whistled after his dog ; he was only answered 
by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high 
in air about a dry tree that overhung a sunny preci- 
pice ; and who, secure in their elevation, seemed 
to look down and scoff at the poor man's perplex- 
ities. What was to be done ? The morning was 
passing away, and Rip felt famished for want of his 
breakfast. He grieved to give up his dog and gun ; 
he dreaded to meet his wife ; but it would not do 
to starve among the mountains. He shook his 
head, shouldered the rusty firelock, and, with a 



1 44 Washington Irving. 

heart full of trouble and anxiety, turned 1 » steps 
homeward. 

As he approached the village he met a number 
of people, but none whom he knew, which some- 
what surprised him, for he had thought himself 
acquainted with everyone in the country round. 
Their dress, too, was of a different fashion from 
that to which he was accustomed. They all stared 
at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever 
they cast their eyes upon him, invariably stroked 
their chins. The constant recurrence of this ges- 
ture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, 
when, to his astonishment, he found his beard had 
grown a foot long ! 

He had now entered the skirts of the village. 
A troop of strange children ran at his heels, hooting 
after him, and pointing at his gray beard. The 
dogs, too, not one of which he recognized for an old 
acquaintance, barked at him as he passed. The 
very village was altered ; it was larger and more 
populous. There were rows of houses which he 
had never seen before, and those which had been 
his familiar haunts had disappeared. Strange 
names were over the doors — strange faces at the 
windows— everything was strange. His mind now 
misgave him ; he began to doubt whether both he 
and the world around him were not bewitched. 
Surely this was his native village, which he had left 
but the day before. There stood the Kaatskill 



77 



;?r 






./ts^M^H i 




Rip Van Winkle. 145 

mountains — there ran the silver Hudson at a dis- 
tance — there was every hill and dale precisely as 
it had always been. Rip was sorely perplexed — 
" That flagon last night," thought he, " has addled 
my poor head sadly ! " 

It was with some difficulty that he found the way 
to his own house, which he approached with silent 
awe, expecting every moment to hear the shrill 
voice of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house 
gone to decay- — the roof fallen in, the windows 
shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A half- 
starved dog that looked like Wolf was skulking 
about it. Rip called him by name, but the cur 
snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This 
was an unkind cut indeed — " My very dog," sighed 
poor Rip, " has forgotten me ! " 

He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, 
Dame Van Winkle had always kept in neat order. 
It was empty, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. 
This desolateness overcame all his connubial fears 
— he called loudly for his wife and children — the 
lonely chambers rang for a moment with his voice, 
and then all again was silence. 

He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old 
resort, the village inn — but it too was gone. A 
large rickety wooden building stood in its place, 
with great gaping windows, some of them broken 
and mended with old hats and petticoats, and over 
the door was painted, "the Union Hotel, by Jona- 



H 6 Washington Irving. 

than Doolittle." Instead of the great tree that used 
to shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there 
now was reared a tall naked pole, with something 
on the top that looked like a red night-cap, and 
from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singu- 
lar assemblage of stars and stripes — all this was 
strange and incomprehensible. He recognized on 
the sign, however, the ruby face of King George, 
under which he had smoked so many a peaceful 
pipe ; but even this was singularly metamorphosed. 
The red coat was changed for one of blue and buff, 
a sword was held in the hand instead of a sceptre, 
the head was decorated with a cocked hat, and un- 
derneath, was painted in large characters, General 
Washington. 

There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the 
door, but none that Rip recollected. The very 
character of the people seemed changed. There 
was a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, 
instead of the accustomed phlegm and drowsy 
tranquillity. He looked in vain for the sage 
Nicholas Vedder, with his broad face, double chin, 
and fair long pipe, uttering clouds of tobacco-smoke 
instead of idle speeches ; or Van Bummel, the 
schoolmaster, doling forth the contents of an ancient 
newspaper. In place of these, a lean, bilious-looking 
fellow, with his pockets full of handbills, was haran- 
guing vehemently about rights of citizens — elec- 
tions—members of Congress— liberty— Bunker's 



Rip Van Winkle. 147 

Hill— heroes of seventy-six— and other words, 
which were a perfect Babylonish jargon to the 
bewildered Van Winkle. 

The appearance of Rip, with his long grizzled 
beard, his rusty fowling-piece, his uncouth dress, 
and an army of women and children at his heels, 
soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians, 
They crowded round him, eying him from head 
to foot with great curiosity. The orator bustled 
up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired 
"On which side he voted?" Rip stared in vacant 
stupidity. Another short but busy little fellow 
pulled him by the arm, and, rising on tiptoe, in- 
quired in his ear, "Whether he was Federal or 
Democrat ? " Rip was equally at a loss to compre- 
hend the question ; when a knowing, self-important 
old gentleman, in a sharp cocked hat, made his 
way through the crowd, putting them to the right 
and left with his elbows as he passed, and planting 
himself before Van Winkle, with one arm akimbo, 
the other resting on his cane, his keen eyes and 
sharp hat penetrating, as it were, into his very soul, 
demanded in an austere tone, " What brought him 
to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and a 
mob at his heels, and whether he meant to breed a 
riot in the village?" — "Alas! gentlemen," cried 
Rip, somewhat dismayed, " I am a poor quiet man, 
a native of the place, and a loyal subject of the 
king, God bless him ! " 



148 Washington Irving. 

Here a general shout burst from the bystanders 
—"A tory ! a tory ! a spy ! a refugee ! hustle him ! 
away with him ! " It was with great difficulty that 
the self-important man in the cocked hat restored 
order ; and, having assumed a tenfold austerity of 
brow, demanded again of the unknown culprit, 
what he came there for, and whom he was seeking ? 
The poor man humbly assured him that he meant 
no harm, but merely came there in search of some 
of his neighbors, who used to keep about the 
tavern. 

11 Well- — who are they ?— name them/' 

Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, 
w Where 's Nicholas Vedder?" 

There was a silence for a little while, when an 
old man replied in a thin piping voice, " Nicholas 
Vedder ! why, he is dead and gone these eighteen 
years! There was a wooden tombstone in the 
church-yard that used to tell all about him, but 
that 's rotten and gone too." 

"Where 's Brom Dutcher?" 

" Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning 
of the war ; some say he was killed at the storming 
of Stony Point— others say he was drowned in a 
squall at the foot of Antony's Nose. I don't know 
— he never came back again." 

" Where 's Van Bummel, the schoolmaster ?" 

"He went off to the wars too, was a great militia 
general, and is now in Congress." 



Rip Van Winkle. 149 

Rip's heart died away at hearing of these sad 
changes in his home and friends, and rinding him- 
self thus alone in the world. Every answer puz- 
zled him too, by treating of such enormous lapses 
of time, and of matters which he could not under- 
stand : war — congress — Stony Point ; — he had no 
courage to ask after any more friends, but cried 
out in despair, " Does nobody here know Rip Van 
Winkle?" 

" Oh, Rip Van Winkle ! " exclaimed two or 
three, " Oh, to be sure ! that 's Rip Van Winkle 
yonder, leaning against the tree." 

Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of 
himself, as he went up the mountain : apparently 
as lazy, and certainly as ragged. The poor fellow 
was now completely confounded. He doubted his 
own identity, and whether he was himself or 
another man. In the midst of his bewilderment, 
the man in the cocked hat demanded who he was, 
and what was his name ? 

" God knows," exclaimed he, at his wit's end ; 
" I 'm not myself — I 'm somebody else— that 's me 
yonder — no — -that 's somebody else got into my 
shoes — I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on 
the mountain, and they 've changed my gun, and 
every thing 's changed, and I 'm changed, and I 
can't tell my name, or who I am ! " 

The bystanders began now to look at each other, 
nod, wink significantly, and tap their fingers against 



i5° Washington Irving. 

their foreheads. There was a whisper, also, about 
securing the gun, and keeping the old fellow from 
doing mischief, at the very suggestion of which the 
self-important man in the cocked hat retired with 
some precipitation. At this critical moment a 
fresh, comely woman pressed through the throng 
to get a peep at the gray-bearded man. She had a 
chubby child in her arms, which, frightened at his 
looks, began to cry. " Hush, Rip/' cried she, 
" hush, you little fool ; the old man won't hurt 
you." The name of the child, th$ air of the mother, 
the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of recol- 
lections in his mind. "What is your name, my 
good woman ? " asked he. 

" Judith Gardenier." 

" And your fathers name ? " 

" Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, 
but it's twenty years since he went away from 
home with his gun, and never has been heard of 
since — his dog came home without him ; but 
whether he shot himself, or was carried away by 
the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a 
little girl." 

Rip had but one question more to ask ; but he 
put it with a faltering voice : 

" Where 's your mother?" 

" Oh, she too had died but a short time since ; 
she broke a blood-vessel in a fit of passion at a 
New England peddler," 



Rip Van Winkle. 151 

There was a drop of comfort, at least, in this 
intelligence. The honest man could contain him- 
self no longer. He caught his daughter and her 
child in his arms. " I am your father!" cried he 
— "Young Rip Van Winkle once — old Rip Van 
Winkle now ! — Does nobody know poor Rip Van 
Winkle ? " 

All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering 
out from among the crowd, put her hand to her brow, 
and peering under it in his face for a moment, ex- 
claimed, "Sure enough ! it is Rip Van Winkle — it 
is himself ! Welcome home again, old neighbor — 
Why, where have you been these twenty long years?" 

Rip's story was soon told, for the whole twenty 
years had been to him but as one night. The 
neighbors stared when they heard it ; some were 
seen to wink at each other, and put their tongues 
in their cheeks ; and the self-important man in the 
cocked hat, who, when the alarm was over, had 
returned to the field, screwed down the corners of 
his mouth, and shook his head — upon which there 
was a general shaking of the head throughout the 
assemblage. 

It was determined, however, to take the opinion 
of old Peter Vanderdonk, who was seen slowly 
advancing up the road. He was a descendant of 
the historian of that name, who wrote one of the 
earliest accounts of the province. Peter was the 
most ancient inhabitant of the village, and well 



152 Washington Irving. 

versed in all the wonderful events and traditions 
of the neighborhood. He recollected Rip at once, 
and corroborated his story in the most satisfactory 
manner. He assured the company that it was a 
fact, handed down from his ancestor the historian, 
that the Kaatskill mountains had always been 
haunted by strange beings. That it was affirmed 
that the great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer 
of the river and country, kept a kind of vigil there 
every twenty years, with his crew of the Half- 
Moon ; being permitted in this way to revisit the 
scenes of his enterprise, and keep a guardian eye 
upon the river, and the great city called by his 
name. That his father had once seen them in 
their old Dutch dresses playing at ninepins in a 
hollow of the mountain ; and that he himself had 
heard one summer afternoon, the sound of their 
balls, like distant peals of thunder. 

To make a long story short, the company broke 
up, and returned to the more important concerns 
of the election. Rip's daughter took him home to 
live with her ; she had a snug, well-furnished house, 
and a stout cheery farmer for a husband, whom 
Rip recollected for one of the urchins that used to 
climb upon his back. As to Rip's son and heir, 
who was the ditto of himself, seen leaning against 
the tree, he was employed to work on the farm ; 
but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to 
anything else but his business. 



Rip Van Winkle. 153 

Rip now resumed his old walks and habits ; he 
soon found many of his former cronies, though all 
rather the worse for the wear and tear of time , and 
preferred making friends among the rising genera- 
tion, with whom he soon grew into great favor. 

Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived 
at that happy age when a man can be idle with 
impunity, he took his place once more on the bench 
at the inn door, and was reverenced as one of the 
patriarchs of the village, and a chronicle of the old 
times " before the war." It was some time before 
he could get into the regular track of gossip,, or 
could be made to comprehend the strange events 
that had taken place during his torpor. How that 
there had been a revolutionary war — that the coun- 
try had thrown off the yoke of old England — and 
that, instead of being a subject of his Majesty 
George the Third, he was now a free citizen of the 
United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician ; 
the changes of states and empires made but little 
impression on him ; but there was one species of 
despotism under which he had long groaned, and 
that was — petticoat government. Happily that 
was at an end ; he had got his neck out of the yoke 
of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever 
he pleased, without dreading the tyranny of Dame 
Van Winkle. Whenever her name was mentioned, 
however, he shook his head, shrugged his shoul- 
ders, and cast up his eyes ; which might pass either 



i54 Washington Irving. 

for an expression of resignation to his fate, or joy 
at his deliverance. 

He used to tell his story to every stranger that 
arrived at Mr. Doolittle's hotel. He was observed, 
at first, to vary on some points every time he told 
it, which was, doubtless, owing to his having so re- 
cently awaked. It at last settled down precisely 
to the tale I have related, and not a man, woman, 
or child in the neighborhood, but knew it by heart. 
Some always pretended to doubt the reality of it, 
and insisted that Rip had been out of his head, 
and that this was one point on which he always 
remained flighty. The old Dutch inhabitants, 
however, almost universally gave it full credit. 
Even to this day they never hear a thunderstorm 
of a summer afternoon about the Kaatskill, but 
they say Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at 
their game of ninepins ; and it is a common wish of 
all hen-pecked husbands in the neighborhood, when 
life hangs heavy on their hands, that they might 
have a quieting draught out of Rip Van Winkle's 
flagon. 



THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW. 

FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIEDRICH 
KNICKERBOCKER. 



" A pleasing land of drowsy head it was, 

Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye ; 
And of gay castles in the clouds that pass, 
For ever flushing round a summer sky." 

Castle of Indolence. 

IN the bosom of one of those spacious coves 
which indent the eastern shore of the Hud- 
son, at that broad expansion of the river de- 
nominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the 
Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently 
shortened sail, and implored the protection of St. 
Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small 
market-town or rural port, which by some is called 
Greensburgh, but which is more generally and 
properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This 
name was given, we are told, in former days, by the 
good housewives of the adjacent country, from the 
inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger 
about the tavern on market days. Be that as it 

155 



15 6 Washington Irving. 

may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert 
to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. 
Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, 
there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among 
high hills, which is one of the quietest places in 
the whole world. A small brook glides through it, 
with just murmur enough to lull one to repose ; 
and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of 
a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever 
breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity. 

I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit 
in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut- 
trees that shades one side of the valley. I had 
wandered into it at noon time, when all nature is 
peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my 
own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around, 
and was prolonged and reverberated by the angry 
echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat, whither 
I might steal from the world and its distractions, 
and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled 
life, I know of none more promising than this little 
valley. 

From the listless repose of the place, and the 
peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are de- 
scendants from the original Dutch settlers, this se- 
questered glen has long been known by the name 
of Sleepy Hollow, and its rustic lads are called the 
Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighbor- 
ing country. A drowsy, dreamy influence se^ms to 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 157 

hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmos- 
phere. Some say that the place was bewitched by 
a high German doctor, during the early days of 
the settlement ; others, that an old Indian chief, 
the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his pow- 
wows there before the country was discovered by 
Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place 
still continues under the sway of some witching 
power, that holds a spell over the minds of the 
good people, causing them to walk in a continual 
reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous 
beliefs ; are subject to trances and visions ; and 
frequently see strange sights, and hear music 
and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood 
abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twi- 
light superstitions ; stars shoot and meteors glare 
oftener across the valley than any other part of the 
country, and the nightmare, with her whole nine- 
fold, seems to make it the favorite scene of her 
gambols. 

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this 
enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in- 
chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition 
of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said 
by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, 
whose head had been carried away by a cannon- 
ball, in some nameless battle during the revolution- 
ary war ; and who is ever and anon seen by the 
country folk, hurrying along in the gloom of night 



iS 8 Washington Irving. 

as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are 
not confined to the valley, but extend at times to 
the adjacent roads, and especially to the vicinity of 
a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of 
the most authentic historians of those parts, who 
have been careful in collecting and collating the 
floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the 
body of the trooper, having been buried in the church- 
yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in 
nightly quest of his head ; and that the rushing 
speed with which he sometimes passes along the 
Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his 
being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the 
churchyard before daybreak. 

Such is the general purport of this legendary 
superstition, which has furnished materials for 
many a wild story in that region of shadows ; and 
the spectre is known, at all the country firesides, 
by the name of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy 
Hollow. 

It is remarkable that the visionary propensity 
I have mentioned is not confined to the native 
inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously im- 
bibed by everyone who resides there for a time. 
However wide awake they may have been before 
they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a 
little time, to inhale the witching influence of the 
air, and begin to grow imaginative — to dream 
dreams, and see apparitions. 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 159 

I mention this peaceful spot with all possible 
laud ; for it is in such little retired Dutch valleys, 
found here and there embosomed in the great State 
of New York, that population, manners, and cus- 
toms, remain fixed ; while the great torrent of mi- 
gration and improvement, which is making such 
incessant changes in other parts of this restless 
country, sweeps by them unobserved. They are 
like those little nooks of still water which border a 
rapid stream ; where we may see the straw and 
bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving 
in their mimic harbor, undisturbed by the rush of 
the passing current, Though many years have 
elapsed since I trod the drowsy shades of Sleepy 
Hollow, yet I question whether I should not still 
find the same trees and the same families vegeta- 
ting in its sheltered bosom. 

In this by-place of nature, there abode, in a re- 
mote period of American history, that is to say, 
some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the 
name of Ichabod Crane ; who sojourned, or, as he 
expressed it, " tarried," in Sleepy Hollow, for the 
purpose of instructing the children of the vicinity. 
He was a native of Connecticut ; a State which 
supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as 
well as for the forest, and sends forth yearly its 
legions of frontier woodsmen and country school- 
masters. The cognomen of Crane was not inap- 
plicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly 



160 Washington Irving. 

lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, 
hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet 
that might have served for shovels, and his whole 
frame most loosely hung together. His head was 
small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green 
glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked 
like a weathercock, perched upon his spindle neck, 
to tell which way the wind blew. To see him 
striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, 
with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, 
one might have mistaken him for the genius of 
famine descending upon the earth, or some scare- 
crow eloped from a cornfield. 

His school-house was a low building of one large 
room, rudely constructed of logs ; the windows 
partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old 
copy-books. It was most ingeniously secured at 
vacant hours, by a withe twisted in the handle of 
the door, and stakes set against the window shut- 
ters ; so that, though a thief might get in with 
perfect ease, he would find some embarrassment in 
getting out ; an idea most probably borrowed by 
the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery 
of an eel-pot. The school-house stood in a rather 
lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a 
woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a 
formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. 
From hence the low murmur of his pupils' voices, 
conning over their lessons, might be heard in a 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 161 

drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a bee-hive ; 
interrupted now and then by the authoritative 
voice of the master, in the tone of menace or com- 
mand ; or, peradventure, by the appalling sound of 
the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the 
flowery path of knowledge. Truth to say, he was 
a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the 
golden maxim, ' Spare the rod and spoil the child." 
— Ichabod Crane's scholars certainly were not 
spoiled. 

I would not have it imagined, however, that he 
was one of those cruel potentates of the school, 
who joy in the smart of their subjects ; on the 
contrary, he administered justice with discrimina- 
tion rather than severity ; taking the burthen off 
the backs of the weak, and laying it on those of 
the strong. Your mere puny stripling, that 
winced at the least flourish of the rod, was 
passed by with indulgence ; but the claims of jus- 
tice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion 
on some little, tough, wrong-headed, broad-skirted 
Dutch urchin, who sulked and swelled and grew 
dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he 
called " doing his duty by their parents " ; and he 
never inflicted a chastisement without following it 
by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting 
urchin, that " he would remember it, and thank 
him for it the longest day he had to live," 

When school hours were over, he was even the 



1 62 Washington Irving. 

companion and playmate of the larger boys ; and 
on holiday afternoons would convoy some of the 
smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty 
sisters, or good housewives for mothers, noted for 
the comforts of the cupboard. Indeed, it behooved 
him to keep on good terms with his pupils. The 
revenue arising from his school was small, and 
would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him 
with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and 
though lank, had the dilating powers of an ana- 
conda ; but to help out his maintenance, he was, 
according to country custom in those parts, boarded 
and lodged at the houses of the farmers, whose 
children he instructed. With these he lived suc- 
cessively a week at a time ; thus going the rounds 
of the neighborhood, with all his worldly effects 
tied up in a cotton handkerchief. 

That all this might not be too onerous on the 
purses of his rustic patrons, who are apt to con- 
sider the costs of schooling a grievous burden, and 
schoolmasters as mere drones, he had various ways 
of rendering himself both useful and agreeable. 
He assisted the farmers occasionally in the lighter 
labors of their farms ; helped to make hay ; mended 
the fences ; took the horses to water ; drove the 
cows from pasture ; and cut wood for the winter 
fire. He laid aside, too, all the dominant dignity 
and absolute sway with which he lorded it in his 
little empire, the school, and became wonderfully 




O : 

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W Ed 

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. i6 t 

gentle and ingratiating. He found favor in the 
eyes of the mothers, by petting the children, par- 
ticularly the youngest ; and like the lion bold, 
which whilom so magnanimously the lamb did 
hold, he would sit with a child on one knee, and 
rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours to- 
gether. 

In addition to his other vocations, he was the 
singing-master of the neighborhood, and picked 
up many bright shillings by instructing the young 
folks in psalmody. It was a matter of no little 
vanity to him, on Sundays, to take his station in 
front of the church gallery, with a band of chosen 
singers ; where, in his own mind, he completely 
carried away the palm from the parson. Certain 
it is, his voice resounded far above all the rest of 
the congregation ; and there are peculiar quavers 
still to be heard in that church, and which may be 
heard half a mile off, quite to the opposite side of 
the mill-pond, on a still Sunday morning, which 
are said to be legitimately descended from the nose 
of Ichabod Crane. Thus, by divers little make- 
shifts in that ingenious way which is commonly 
denominated " by hook and by crook," the worthy 
pedagogue got on tolerably enough, and was 
thought, by all who understood nothing of the labor 
of headwork, to have a wonderfully easy life of it. 

The schoolmaster is generally a man of some 
importance in the female circle of a rural neighbor- 



164 Washington Irving. 

hood ; being considered a kind of idle gentlemanlike 
personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplish- 
ments to the rough country swains, and indeed, 
inferior in learning only to the parson. His ap- 
pearance, therefore, is apt to occasion some little 
stir at the tea-table of a farmhouse, and the addi- 
tion of a supernumerary dish of cakes or sweet- 
meats, or, peradventure, the parade of a silver 
tea-pot. Our man of letters, therefore, was pecu- 
liarly happy in the smiles of all the country dam- 
sels. How he would figure among them in the 
churchyard, between services on Sundays ! gath- 
ering grapes for them from the wild vines that 
overran the surrounding trees ; reciting for their 
amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones ; or 
sauntering, with a whole bevy of them, along the 
banks of the adjacent mill-pond ; while the more 
bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back, 
envying his superior elegance and address. 

From his half itinerant life, also, he was a kind 
of travelling gazette, carrying the whole budget of 
local gossip from house to house ; so that his ap- 
pearance was always greeted with satisfaction. He 
was, moreover, esteemed by the women as a man 
of great erudition, for he had read several books 
quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton 
Mathers history of New England Witchcraft, in 
which, by the way, he most firmly and potently 
believed. 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 165 

He was, in fact, an odd mixture of small shrewd- 
ness and simple credulity. His appetite for the 
marvellous, and his powers of digesting it, were 
equally extraordinary ; and both had been increased 
by his residence in this spellbound region. No 
tale was too gross or monstrous for his capacious 
swallow. It was often his delight, after his school 
was dismissed in the afternoon, to stretch himself 
on the rich bed of clover, bordering the little brook 
that whimpered by his school-house, and there con 
over old Mather's direful tales, until the gathering- 
dusk of the evening made the printed page a mere 
mist before his eyes. Then, as he wended his way, 
by swamp and stream and awful woodland, to the 
farmhouse where he happened to be quartered, 
every sound of nature, at that witching hour, flut- 
tered his excited imagination : the moan of the 
whip-poor-will * from the hillside ; the boding cry 
of the tree-toad, that harbinger of storm ; the 
dreary hooting of the screech-owl, or the sudden 
rustling in the thicket of birds frightened from 
their roost. The fireflies, too, which sparkled 
most vividly in the darkest places, now and then 
startled him, as one of uncommon brightness would 
stream across his path ; and if, by chance, a huge 
blockhead of a beetle came winging his blundering 
flight against him, the poor varlet was ready to 

* The whip-poor-will is a bird which is only heard at night. It receives 
its name from its note, which is thought to resemble those words. 



1 66 Washington Irving. 

give up the ghost, with the idea that he was struck 
with a witch's token. His only resource on such 
occasions, either to drown thought, or drive away 
evil spirits, was to sing psalm tunes ; — and the good 
people of Sleepy Hollow, as they sat by their doors 
of an evening, were often filled with awe, at hear- 
ing his nasal melody, "in linked sweetness long 
drawn out," floating from the distant hill, or along 
the dusky road. 

Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was, 
to pass long winter evenings with the old Dutch 
wives, as they sat spinning by the fire, with a row 
of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, 
and listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and 
goblins, and haunted fields, and haunted brooks, 
and haunted bridges, and haunted houses, and 
particularly of the headless horseman, or galloping 
Hessian of the Hollow, as they sometimes called 
him. He would delight them equally by his anec- 
dotes of witchcraft, and of the direful omens and 
portentous sights and sounds in the air, which pre- 
vailed in the earlier times of Connecticut ; and 
would frighten them wofully with speculations upon 
comets and shooting stars ; and with the alarming 
fact that the world did absolutely turn round, and 
that they were half the time topsy-turvy ! 

But if there was a pleasure in all this, while 
snugly cuddling in the chimney corner of a cham- 
ber that was all of a ruddy glow from the crackling 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 167 

wood fire, and where, of course, no spectre dared 
to show his face, it was dearly purchased by the 
terrors of his subsequent walk homewards. What 
fearful shapes and shadows beset his path amidst 
the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night ! — 
With what wistful look did he eye every trembling 
ray of light streaming across the waste fields from 
some distant window ! — How often was he appalled 
by some shrub covered with snow, which, like a 
sheeted spectre, beset his very path ! — How often 
did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of 
his own steps on the frosty crust beneath his feet ; 
and dreaded to look over his shoulder, lest he 
should behold some uncouth being tramping close 
behind him ! — and how often was he thrown into 
complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling 
among the trees, in the idea that it was the Gallop- 
ing Hessian on one of his nightly scourings ! 

All these, however, were mere terrors of the 
night, phantoms of the mind that walked in dark- 
ness ; and though he had seen many spectres in his 
time, and been more than once beset by Satan 
in divers shapes, in his lonely perambulations, yet 
daylight put an end to all these evils ; and he would 
have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the 
devil and all his works, if his path had not been 
crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to 
mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race 
of witches put together, and that was — a woman. 



i68 Washington Irving. 

Among the musical disciples who assembled, one 
evening in each week, to receive his instructions in 
psalmody, was Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter 
and only child of a substantial Dutch farmer. She 
was a blooming lass of fresh eighteen ; plump as a 
partridge ; ripe and melting and rosy cheeked as 
one of her father's peaches, and universally famed, 
not merely for her beauty, but her vast expecta- 
sions. She was withal a little of a coquette, as might 
be perceived even in her dress, which was a mixture 
of ancient and modern fashions, as most suited to 
set off her charms. She wore the ornaments of pure 
yellow gold, which her great-great-grandmother 
had brought over from Saardam ; the tempting 
stomacher of the olden time ; and withal a provok- 
ingly short petticoat, to display the prettiest foot 
and ankle in the country round. 

Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart tow- 
ards the sex ; and it is not to be wondered at, that 
so tempting a morsel soon found favor in his eyes ; 
more especially after he had visited her in her 
paternal mansion. Old Baltus Van Tassel was a 
perfect picture of a thriving, contented, liberal- 
hearted farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent either 
his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of 
his own farm ; but within those everything was 
snug, happy, and well-conditioned. He was satis- 
fied with his wealth, but not proud of it ; and 
piqued himself upon the hearty abundance, rather 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 169 

than the style in which he lived. His stronghold 
was situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one 
of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks, in which 
Dutch farmers are so fond of nestling. A great 
elm-tree spread its broad branches over it ; at the 
foot of which bubbled up a spring of the softest and 
sweetest water, in a little well, formed of a barrel ; 
and then stole sparkling away through the grass, 
to a neighboring brook, that bubbled along among 
alders and dwarf willows, Hard by the farmhouse 
was a vast barn, that might have served for a church ; 
every window and crevice of which seemed bursting 
forth with the treasures of the farm. The flail was 
busily resounding within it from morning to night ; 
swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the 
eaves ; and rows of pigeons, some with one eye 
turned up, as if watching the weather, some with 
their heads under their wings, or buried in their 
bosoms, and others swelling, and cooing, and bow- 
ing about their dames, were enjoying the sunshine 
on the roof. Sleek unwieldy porkers were grunt- 
ing in the repose and abundance of their pens ; 
whence sallied forth, now and then, troops of suck- 
ing pigs, as if to snuff the air. A stately squadron 
of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond, 
convoying whole fleets of ducks ; regiments of 
turkeys were gobbling through the farmyard, and 
guinea fowls fretting about it, like ill-tempered 
housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry. 



170 Washington Irving. 

Before the barn door strutted the gallant cock, that 
pattern of a husband, a warrior, and a fine gentle- 
man, clapping his burnished wings, and crowing in 
the pride and gladness of his heart — -sometimes 
tearing up the earth with his feet, and then gener- 
ously calling his ever-hungry family of wives and 
children to enjoy the rich morsel which he had dis- 
covered. 

The pedagogue's mouth watered, as he looked 
upon this sumptuous promise of luxurious winter 
fare. In his devouring mind's eye, he pictured to 
himself every roasting-pig running about with a 
pudding in his belly, and an apple in his mouth ; 
the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a comforta- 
ble pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust ; the 
geese were swimming in their own gravy ; and the 
ducks pairing cosily in dishes, like snug married 
couples, with a decent competency of onion sauce. 
In the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek 
side of bacon, and juicy relishing ham ; not a tur- 
key but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its 
gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure, a neck- 
lace of savory sausages ; and even bright chanti- 
cleer himself lay sprawling on his back, in a side- 
dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter 
which his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask while 
living. 

As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and 
as he rolled his great green eyes over the fat 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 17 1 

meadow-lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye, of 
buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchards bur- 
dened with ruddy fruit, which surrounded the 
warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart yearned 
after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, 
and his imagination expanded with the idea, how 
they might be readily turned into cash, and the 
money invested in immense tracts of wild land, 
and shingle palaces in the wilderness. Nay, his 
busy fancy already realized his hopes, and pre- 
sented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole 
family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon 
loaded with household trumpery, with pots and 
kettles dangling beneath ; , and he beheld himself 
bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, 
setting out for Kentucky, Tennessee, or the Lord 
knows where. 

When he entered the house the conquest of his 
heart was complete. It was one of those spacious 
farmhouses, with high-ridged, but lowly-sloping 
roofs, built in the style handed down from the first 
Dutch settlers, the low projecting eaves forming 
a piazza along the front, capable of being closed 
up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails, 
harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets 
for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were 
built along the sides for summer use ; and a great 
spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, 
showed the various uses to which this important 



172 Washington Irving. 

porch might be devoted. From this piazza the 
wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed 
the centre of the mansion and the place of usual 
residence. Here, rows of resplendent pewter 
ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In 
one corner stood a huge bag of wool ready to be 
spun ; in another a quantity of linsey-woolsey just 
from the loom ; ears of Indian corn, and strings 
of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons 
along the walls, mingled with the gaud of red 
peppers, and a door left ajar gave him a peep into 
the best parlor, where the claw-footed chairs, and 
dark mahogany tables, shone like mirrors. And 
irons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs, 
glistened from their covert of asparagus tops ; 
mock-oranges and conch-shells decorated the man- 
tel-piece ; strings of various colored birds' eggs 
were suspended above it. A great ostrich egg was 
hung from the centre of the room, and a corner 
cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed immense 
treasures of old silver and well-mended china. 

From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon 
these regions of delight, the peace of his mind was 
at an end, and his only study was how to gain the 
affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. 
In this enterprise, however, he had more real diffi- 
culties than generally fell to the lot of a knight- 
errant of yore, who seldom had anything but giants, 
enchanters, fiery dragons, and such like easily con- 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 173 

quered adversaries, to contend with ; and had to 
make his way merely through gates of iron and 
brass, and walls of adamant, to the castle keep, 
where the lady of his heart was confined, all of 
which he achieved as easily as a man would carve 
his way to the centre of a Christmas pie, and then 
the lady gave him her hand as a matter of course. 
Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win his way to 
the heart of a country coquette, beset with a laby- 
rinth of whims and caprices, which were forever 
presenting new difficulties and impediments ; and 
he had to encounter a host of fearful adversaries 
of real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic ad- 
mirers, who beset every portal to her heart, keep- 
ing a watchful and angry eye upon each other, but 
ready to fly out in the common cause against any 
new competitor. 

Among these the most formidable was a burly, 
roaring, roystering blade, of the name of Abraham, 
or, according to the Dutch abbreviation, Brom Van 
Brunt, the hero of the country round, which rang 
with his feats of strength and hardihood. He 
was broad-shouldered and double-jointed, with 
short curly black hair, and a bluff, but not unpleas- 
ant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and 
arrogance. From his Herculean frame and great 
powers of limb, he had received the nickname of 
Brom Bones, by which he was universally known. 
He was famed for great knowledge and skill in 



174 Washington Irving. 

horsemanship, being as dexterous on horseback 
as a Tartar. He was foremost at all races and 
cock-fights ; and, with the ascendency which bodily- 
strength acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in 
all disputes, setting his hat on one side, and giv- 
ing his decisions with an air and tone admitting 
of no gainsay or appeal. He was always ready 
for either a fight or a frolic ; but had more mischief 
than ill-will in his composition ; and, with all his 
overbearing roughness, there was a strong dash 
of waggish good-humor at bottom. He had three 
or four boon companions, who regarded him as 
their model, and at the head of whom he scoured 
the country, attending every scene of feud or merri- 
ment for miles round. In cold weather he was 
distinguished by a fur cap, surmounted with a flaunt- 
ing fox's tail ; and when the folks at a country 
gathering descried this well-known crest at a dis- 
tance, whisking about among a squad of hard riders, 
they always stood by for a squall. Sometimes his 
crew would be heard dashing along past the farm- 
houses at midnight, with whoop and halloo, like 
a troop of Don Cossacks ; and the old dames, 
startled out of their sleep, would listen for a mo- 
ment till the hurry-scurry had clattered by, and 
then exclaim, " Ay, there goes Brom Bones and 
his gang ! " The neighbors looked upon him with 
a mixture of awe, admiration, and good will ; and 
when any madcap prank or rustic brawl occurred 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 175 

in the vicinity, always shook their heads, and war- 
ranted Brom Bones was at the bottom of it. 

This rantipole hero had for some time singled 
out the blooming Katrina for the object of his 
uncouth gallantries, and though his amorous toy- 
ings were something like the gentle caresses and 
endearments of a bear, yet it was whispered that 
she did not altogether discourage his hopes. 
Certain it is, his advances were signals for rival 
candidates to retire, who felt no inclination to cross 
a lion in his amours ; insomuch, that when his 
horse was seen tied to Van Tassel's paling, on a 
Sunday night, a sure sign that his master was 
courting, or, as it is termed, " sparking," within, 
all other suitors passed by in despair, and carried 
the war into other quarters. 

Such was the formidable rival with whom Ichabod 
Crane had to contend, and, considering all things, 
a stouter man than he would have shrunk from 
the competition, and a wiser man would have 
despaired. He had however, a happy mixture of 
pliability and perseverance in his nature ; he was 
in form and spirit like a supple-jack — yielding, but 
tough ; though he bent, he never broke ; and 
though he bowed beneath the slightest pressure, 
yet, the moment it was away — jerk ! he was as 
erect, and carried his head as high as ever. 

To have taken the field openly against his rival 
would have been madness ; for he was not a man 



17 6 Washington Irving. 

to be thwarted in his amours, any more than that 
stormy lover, Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made 
his advances in a quiet and gently-insinuating 
manner. Under cover of his character of singing- 
master, he made frequent visits at the farmhouse ; 
not that he had any thing to apprehend from the 
meddlesome interference of parents, which is so 
often a stumbling-block in the path of lovers. 
Bait Van Tassel was an easy, indulgent soul ; he 
loved his daughter better even than his pipe, and 
like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let 
her have her way in every thing. His notable 
little wife, too, had enough to do to attend to her 
housekeeping and manage her poultry ; for, as she 
sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things, 
and must be looked after, but girls can take care 
of themselves. Thus while the busy dame bustled 
about the house, or plied her spinning-wheel at 
one end of the piazza, honest Bait would sit smok- 
ing his evening pipe at the other, watching the 
achievements of a little wooden warrior, who, 
armed with a sword in each hand, was most 
valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle of the 
barn. In the meantime, Ichabod would carry on 
his suit with the daughter by the side of the spring 
under the great elm, or sauntering along in the 
twilight, that hour so favorable to the lovers 
eloquence. 

I profess not to know how women's hearts are 



v- ivfc'r!?! I A 




The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 177 

wooed and won. To me they have always been 
matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to 
have but one vulnerable point, or door of access ; 
while others have a thousand avenues, and may be 
captured in a thousand different ways. It is a 
great triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still 
greater proof of generalship to maintain possession 
of the latter, for the man must battle for his for- 
tress at every door and window. He who wins a 
thousand common hearts is therefore entitled 
to some renown ; but he who keeps undisputed 
sway over the heart of a coquette, is indeed a hero. 
Certain it is, this was not the case with the redoubt- 
able Brom Bones ; and from the moment Ichabod 
Crane made his advances, the interests of the 
former evidently declined ; his horse was no longer 
seen tied at the palings on Sunday nights, and a 
deadly feud gradually arose between him and the 
preceptor of Sleepy Hollow. 

Brom, who had a degree of rough chivalry in his 
nature, would fain have carried matters to open 
warfare, and have settled their pretensions to the 
lady, according to the mode of those most concise 
and simple reasoners, the knights-errant of yore — 
by single combat ; but Ichabod was too conscious 
of the superior might of his adversary to enter the 
lists against him : he had overheard a boast of 
Bones, that he would " double the schoolmaster up, 
and lay him on a shelf of his own school-house " ; 



178 Washington Irving. 

and he was too wary to give him an opportunity. 
There was something extremely provoking in this 
obstinately pacific system ; it left Brom no alterna- 
tive but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery 
in his disposition, and to play off boorish practical 
jokes upon his rival. Ichabod became the object 
of whimsical persecution to Bones, and his gang 
of rough riders. They harried his hitherto peace- 
ful domains ; smoked out his singing-school, by 
stopping up the chimney ; broke into the school- 
house at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings 
of withe and window stakes, and turned every 
thing topsy-turvy : so that the poor schoolmaster 
began to think all the witches in the country held 
their meetings there. But what was still more 
annoying, Brom took all opportunities of turning 
him into ridicule in presence of his mistress, and 
had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in 
the most ludicrous manner, and introduced as a 
rival of Ichabod's to instruct her in psalmody. 

In this way matters went on for some time, with- 
out producing any material effect on the relative 
situation of the contending powers. On a fine 
autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat 
enthroned on the lofty stool whence he usually 
watched all the concerns of his little literary realm. 
In his hand he swayed a ferule, that sceptre of 
despotic power; the birch of justice reposed on 
three nails, behind the throne, a constant terror to 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 179 

evil doers ; while on the desk before him might be 
seen sundry contraband articles and prohibited 
weapons, detected upon the persons of idle urchins ; 
such as half-munched apples, popguns, whirligigs, 
fly-cages, and whole legions of rampant little paper 
game-cocks. Apparently there had been some 
appalling act of justice recently inflicted, for his 
scholars were all busily intent upon their books, or 
slyly whispering behind them with one eye kept 
upon the master ; and a kind of buzzing stillness 
reigned throughout the school-room. It was sud- 
denly interrupted by the appearance of a negro, in 
tow-cloth jacket and trowsers, a round-crowned 
fragment of a hat, like the cap of Mercury, and 
mounted on the back of a ragged, wild, half-broken 
colt, which he managed with a rope by way of halter. 
He came clattering up to the school door with an 
invitation to Ichabod to attend a merry-making or 
"quilting frolic," to be held that evening at 
Mynheer Van Tassel's ; and having delivered his 
message with that air of importance, and effort at 
fine language, which a negro is apt to display on 
petty embassies of the kind, he dashed over the 
brook, and was seen scampering away up the hol- 
low, full of the importance and hurry of his mission. 
All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet 
school-room. The scholars were hurried through 
their lessons, without stopping at trifles ; those 
who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, 



180 Washington Irving. 

and those who were tardy, had a smart application 
now and then in the rear, to quicken their speed, 
or help them over a tall word. Books were flung 
aside without being put away on the shelves, ink- 
stands were overturned, benches thrown down, and 
the whole school, was turned loose an hour before 
the usual time, bursting forth like a legion of young 
imps, yelping and racketing about the green, in joy 
at their early emancipation. 

The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra 
half-hour at his toilet, brushing and furbishing up 
his best, and indeed only suit of rusty black, and 
arranging his locks by a bit of broken looking- 
glass, that hung up in the school-house. That he 
might make his appearance before his mistress in 
the true style of a cavalier, he borrowed a horse 
from the farmer with whom he was domiciliated, a 
choleric old Dutchman, of the name of Hans Van 
Ripper, and, thus gallantly mounted, issued forth, 
like a knight-errant in quest of adventures. But it 
is meet I should, in the true spirit of romantic story, 
give some account of the looks and equipments of 
my hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode 
was a broken-down plough-horse, that had outlived 
almost everything but his viciousness. He was 
gaunt and shagged, with a ewe neck and a head 
like a hammer ; his rusty mane and tail were 
tangled and knotted with burrs ; one eye had lost 
its pupil, and was glaring and spectral ; but the 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 181 

other had the gleam of a genuine devil in it. Still 
he must have had fire and mettle in his day, if we 
may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder. 
He had, in fact, been a favorite steed of his masters, 
the choleric Van Ripper, who was a furious rider, 
and had infused, very probably, some of his own 
spirit into the animal ; for, old and broken-down as 
he looked, there was more of the lurking devil in 
him than in any young filly in the country. 

Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. 
He rode with short stirrups, which brought his 
knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle ; his 
sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers' ; he 
carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand, like a 
sceptre, and, as his horse jogged on, the motion of 
his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of 
wings. A small wool hat rested on the top of his 
nose, for so his scanty strip of forehead might be 
called ; and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out 
almost to the horse's tail. Such was the appearance 
of Ichabod and his steed, as they shambled out of 
the gate of Hans Van Ripper, and it was altogether 
such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in 
broad daylight. 

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day, the 
sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich 
and golden livery which we always associate with the 
idea of abundance. The forests had put on their 
sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the 



1 82 Washington Irving. 

tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into 
brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. 
Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their 
appearance high in the air ; the bark of the squirrel 
might be heard from the groves of beech and hick- 
ory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at in- 
tervals from the neighboring stubble-field. 

The small birds were taking their farewell ban- 
quets. In the fulness of their revelry, they fluttered, 
chirping and frolicking, from bush to bush, and tree 
to tree, capricious from the very profusion and 
variety around them. There was the honest cock- 
robin, the favorite game of stripling sportsmen, 
with its loud querulous note ; and the twittering 
blackbirds flying in sable clouds ; and the golden- 
winged woodpecker, with his crimson crest, his 
broad black gorget, and splendid plumage ; and the 
cedar-bird, with its red-tipt wings and yellow-tipt 
tail, and its little monteiro cap of feathers ; and the 
blue-jay, that noisy coxcomb, in his gay light-blue 
coat and white underclothes ; screaming and chat- 
tering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pre- 
tending to be on good terms with every songster 
of the grove. 

As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, 
ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, 
ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly 
autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of 
apples ; some hanging in oppressive opulence on 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 183 

the trees ; some gathered into baskets and barrels 
for the market ; others heaped up in rich piles for 
the cider-press. Farther on he beheld great fields 
of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from 
their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of 
cakes and hasty-pudding ; and the yellow pumpkins 
lying beneath them, turning up their fair round 
bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of 
the most luxurious of pies ; and anon he passed 
the fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor 
of the bee-hive, and as he beheld them, soft antici- 
pations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, 
well buttered, and garnished with honey or treacle, 
by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van 
Tassel. 

Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts 
and " sugared suppositions," he journeyed along 
the sides of a range of hills which look out upon 
some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson. 
The sun gradually wheeled his broad disk down 
into the west. The wide bosom of the Tappan 
Zee lay motionless and glassy, excepting that here 
and there a gentle undulation waved and pro- 
longed the blue shadow of the distant mountain. 
A few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a 
breath of air to move them. The horizon was of 
a fine golden tint, changing gradually into a pure 
apple green, and from that into the deep blue of 
the mid-heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the 



1 84 Washington Irving, 

woody crests of the precipices that overhung some 
parts of the river, giving greater depth to the 
dark-gray and purple of their rocky sides. A sloop 
was loitering in the distance, dropping slowly down 
with the tide, her sail hanging uselessly against 
the mast ; and as the reflection of the sky gleamed 
along the still water, it seemed as if the vessel was 
suspended in the air. 

It was towards evening that Ichabod arrived at 
the castle of the Heer Van Tassel, which he found 
thronged with the pride and flower of the adjacent 
country. Old farmers, a spare leathern-faced race, 
in homespun coats and breeches, blue stockings, 
huge shoes, and magnificent pewter buckles. Their 
brisk withered little dames, in close crimped caps, 
long-waisted short-gowns, homespun petticoats, 
with scissors and pincushions, and gay calico pock- 
ets hanging on the outside. Buxom lasses, almost 
as antiquated as their mothers, excepting where 
a straw hat, a fine ribbon, or perhaps a white frock 
gave symptoms of city innovation. The sons, in 
short square-skirted coats with rows of stupendous 
brass buttons, and their hair generally queued in 
the fashion of the times, especially if they could 
procure an eel-skin for the purpose, it being 
esteemed, throughout the country, as a potent 
nourisher and strengthener of the hair. 

Brom Bones, however, was the hero of the scene, 
having come to the gathering on his favorite steed 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 185 

Daredevil, a creature, like himself, full of mettle 
and mischief, and which no one but himself could 
manage. He was, in fact, noted for preferring 
vicious animals, given to all kinds of tricks, which 
kept the rider in constant risk of his neck, for he 
held a tractable well-broken horse as unworthy of 
a lad of spirit. 

Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of 
charms that burst upon the enraptured gaze of my 
hero, as he entered the state parlor of Van Tassel's 
mansion. Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses, 
with their luxurious display of red and white ; but 
the ample charms of a genuine Dutch country tea- 
table, in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such 
heaped-up platters of cakes of various and almost 
indescribable kinds, known only to experienced 
Dutch housewives ! There was the doughty 
doughnut, the tenderer oly koek, and the crisp 
and crumbling cruller ; sweet cakes and short cakes, 
ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family 
of cakes. And then there were apple pies and 
peach pies and pumpkin pies ; besides slices of 
ham and smoked beef; and moreover delectable 
dishes of preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, 
and quinces ; not to mention broiled shad and 
roasted chickens ; together with bowls of milk and 
cream, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, pretty much 
as I have enumerated them, with the motherly 
tea-pot sending up its clouds of vapor from the 



1 86 Washington Irving. 

midst — Heaven bless the mark ! I want breath 
and time to discuss this banquet as it deserves, 
and am too eager to get on with my story. Hap- 
pily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as 
his historian, but did ample justice to every dainty. 

He was a kind and thankful creature, whose 
heart dilated in proportion as his skin was filled 
with good cheer ; and whose spirits rose with eat- 
ing as some men's do with drink. He could not 
help, too, rolling his large eyes round him as he 
ate, and chuckling with the possibility that he might 
one day be lord of all this scene of almost unimag- 
inable luxury and splendor. Then, he thought, 
how soon he 'd turn his back upon the old school- 
house, snap his fingers in the face of Hans Van 
Ripper, and every other niggardly patron, and kick 
any itinerant pedagogue out of doors that should 
dare to call him comrade ! 

Old. Baltus Van Tassel moved about among his 
guests with a face dilated with content and good 
humor, round and jolly as the harvest moon. His 
hospitable attentions were brief, but expressive, 
being confined to a shake of the hand, a slap on 
the shoulder, a loud laugh, and a pressing invita- 
tion to " fall to, and help themselves." 

And now the sound of the music from the com- 
mon room, or hall, summoned to the dance. The 
musician was an old gray-headed negro, who had 
been the itinerant orchestra of the neighborhood 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 187 

for more than half a century. His instrument was 
as old and battered as himself. The greater part 
of the time he scraped on two or three strings, ac- 
companying every movement of the bow with a 
motion of the head, bowing almost to the ground, 
and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple 
were to start. 

Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much 
as upon his vocal powers. Not a limb, not a fibre 
about him was idle ; and to have seen his loosely 
hung frame in full motion, and clattering about the 
room, you would have thought Saint Vitus himself, 
that blessed patron of the dance, was figuring be- 
fore you in person. He was the admiration of all 
the negroes ; who, having gathered, of all ages and 
sizes, from the farm and the neighborhood, stood 
forming a pyramid of shining black faces at every 
door and window, gazing with delight at the scene, 
rolling their white eyeballs, and showing grinning 
rows of ivory from ear to ear. How could the 
flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and 
joyous ? the lady of his heart was his partner in the 
dance, and smiling graciously in reply to all his 
amorous oglings ; while Brom Bones, sorely smitten 
with love and jealousy, sat brooding by himself in 
one corner. 

When the dance was at an end, Ichabod was 
attracted to a knot of the sager folks, who, with 
old Van Tassel, sat smoking at one end of the 



1 88 Washington Irving. 

piazza,, gossiping over former times, and drawing 
out long stories about the war. 

This neighborhood, at the time of which I am 
speaking, was one of those highly-favored places 
which abound with chronicle and great men. The 
British and American line had run near it during 
the war ; it had, therefore, been the scene of ma- 
rauding, and infested with refugees, cow-boys, and 
all kinds of border chivalry. Just sufficient time 
had elapsed to enable each story-teller to dress up 
his tale with a little becoming fiction, and, in the 
indistinctness of his recollection, to make himself 
the hero of every exploit. 

There was the story of Doffue Martling, a large, 
blue-bearded Dutchman, who had nearly taken a 
British frigate with an old iron nine-pounder from 
a mud breastwork, only that his gun burst at the 
sixth discharge. And there was an old gentleman 
who shall be nameless, being too rich a mynheer 
to be lightly mentioned, who, in the battle of White- 
plains, being an excellent master of defence, par- 
ried a musket ball with a small sword, insomuch 
that he absolutely felt it whiz round the blade, and 
glance off at the hilt ; in proof of which, he was 
ready at any time to show the sword, with the hilt 
a little bent. There were several more that had 
been equally great in the field, not one of whom 
but was persuaded that he had a considerable hand 
in bringing the war to a happy termination. 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 189 

But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts 
and apparitions that succeeded. The neighbor- 
hood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind. 
Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these 
sheltered, long-settled retreats ; but are trampled 
under foot by the shifting throng that forms the 
population of most of our country places. Besides, 
there is no encouragement for ghosts in most of 
our villages, for they have scarcely had time to fin- 
ish their first nap, and turn themselves in their 
graves, before their surviving friends have trav- 
elled away from the neighborhood ; so that when 
they turn out at night to walk their rounds, they 
have no acquaintance left to call upon. This is 
perhaps the reason why we so seldom hear of 
ghosts except in our long-established Dutch com- 
munities. 

The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence 
of supernatural stories in these parts, was doubtless 
owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow. There 
was a contagion in the very air that blew from that 
haunted region ; it breathed forth an atmosphere 
of dreams and fancies infecting all the land. Several 
of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van 
Tassel's, and, as usual, were doling out their wild 
and wonderful legends. Many dismal tales were 
told about funeral trains, and mourning cries and 
wailings heard and seen about the great tree where 
the unfortunate Major Andre was taken, and which 



i go Washington Irving, 

stood in the neighborhood. Some mention was 
made also of the woman in white, that haunted the 
dark glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to 
shriek on winter nights before a storm, having per- 
ished there in the snow. The chief part of the 
stories, however, turned upon the favorite spectre 
of Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman, who had 
been heard several times of late, patrolling the 
country ; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly 
among the graves in the churchyard. 

The sequestered situation of this church seems al- 
ways to have made it a favorite haunt of troubled 
spirits. It stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust- 
trees and lofty elms, from among which its decent 
whitewashed walls shine modestly forth, like Chris- 
tian purity beaming through the shades of retire- 
ment. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver 
sheet of water, bordered by high trees, between 
which, peeps may be caught at the blue hills of the 
Hudson. To look upon its grass-grown yard, 
where the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one 
would think that there at least the dead might rest 
in peace. On one side of the church extends a 
wide woody dell, along which raves a large brook 
among broken rocks and trunks of fallen trees. 
Over a deep black part of the stream, not far from the 
church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge ; the 
road that led to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly 
shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 19 1 

about it, even in the daytime ; but occasioned a 
fearful darkness at night. This was one of the fa- 
vorite haunts of the headless horseman ; and the 
place where he was most frequently encountered. 
The tale was told of old Brouwer, a most heretical 
disbeliever in ghosts, how he met the horseman re- 
turning from his foray into Sleepy Hollow, and was 
obliged to get up behind him ; how they galloped 
over bush and brake, over hill and swamp, until they 
reached the bridge ; when the horseman suddenly 
turned into a skeleton, threw old Brouwer into the 
brook, and sprang away over the tree-tops with a 
clap of thunder. 

This story was immediately matched by a thrice 
marvellous adventure of Brom Bones, who made 
light of the galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. 
He affirmed that, on returning one night from the 
neighboring village of Sing-Sing, he had been over- 
taken by this midnight trooper ; that he had offered 
to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should 
have won it too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse 
all hollow, but, just as they came to the church 
bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash 
of fire. 

All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone 
with which men talk in the dark, the countenances 
of the listeners only now and then receiving a cas- 
ual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sank deep in 
the mind of Ichabod. He repaid them in kind 



19 2 Washington Irving. 

with large extracts from his invaluable author, 
Cotton Mather, and added many marvellous events 
that had taken place in his native State of Connec- 
ticut, and fearful sights which he had seen in his 
nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow. 

The revel now gradually broke up. The old 
farmers gathered together their families in their 
wagons, and were heard for some time rattling 
along the hollow roads, and over the distant hills. 
Some of the damsels mounted on pillions behind 
their favorite swains, and their light-hearted laugh- 
ter, mingling with the clatter of hoofs, echoed along 
the silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter 
until they gradually died away — and the late scene 
of noise and frolic was all silent and deserted. 
Ichabod only lingered behind, according to the cus- 
tom of country lovers, to have a tete-a-t6te with the 
heiress, fully convinced that he was now on the high 
road to success. What passed at this interview I 
will not pretend to say, for in fact I do not know. 
Something, however, I fear me, must have gone 
wrong, for he certainly sallied forth, after no great 
interval, with an air quite desolate and chop-fallen. 
— Oh these women ! these women ! Could that 
girl have been playing off any of her coquettish 
tricks ? — Was her encouragement of the poor peda- 
gogue all a mere sham to secure her conquest of his 
rival ? — Heaven only knows, not I ! — Let it suffice 
to say, Ichabod stole forth with the air of one who 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 193 

had been sacking a hen-roost, rather than a fair 
lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left 
to notice the scene of rural wealth, on which he had 
so often gloated, he went straight to the stable, and 
with several hearty cuffs and kicks, roused his steed 
most uncourteously from the comfortable quarters 
in which he was soundly sleeping, dreaming of 
mountains of corn and oats, and whole valleys of 
timothy and clover. 

It was the very witching time of night that Icha- 
bod, heavy-hearted and crest-fallen, pursued his 
travel homewards, along the sides of the lofty hills 
which rise above Tarrytown, and which he had 
traversed so cheerily in the afternoon. The hour 
was as dismal as himself. Far below him, the Tap- 
pan Zee spread its dusky and indistinct waste of 
waters, with here and there the tall mast of a sloop, 
riding quietly at anchor under the land. In the 
dead hush of midnight, he could even hear the bark- 
ing of the watch-dog from the opposite shore of 
the Hudson ; but it was so vague and faint as only 
to give an idea of his distance from this faithful 
companion of man. Now and then, too, the long- 
drawn crowing of a cock, accidentally awakened, 
would sound far, far off, from some farmhouse 
away among the hills — but it was like a dreaming 
sound in his ear. No signs of life occurred near 
him, but occasionally the melancholy chirp of a 
cricket, or perhaps the guttural twang of a bull-frog, 



194 Washington Irving. 

from a neighboring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfort- 
ably, and turning suddenly in his bed. 

All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had 
heard in the afternoon, now came crowding upon 
his recollection. The night grew darker and darker ; 
the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driv- 
ing clouds occasionally hid them from his sight. 
He had never felt so lonely and dismal. He was, 
moreover, approaching the very place where many 
of the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid. 
In the centre of the road stood an enormous tulip- 
tree, which towered like a giant above all the other 
trees of the neighborhood, and formed a kind of 
landmark. Its limbs were gnarled, and fantastic, 
large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, 
twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again 
into the air. It was connected with the tragical 
story of the unfortunate Andr£, who had been 
taken prisoner hard by ; and was universally known 
by the name of Major Andre's tree. The common 
people regarded it with a mixture of respect and 
superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of 
its ill-starred namesake, and partly from the tales 
of strange sights and doleful lamentations told 
concerning it. 

As Ichabod approached this fearful tree, he be- 
gan to whistle : he thought his whistle was answered 
— it was but a blast sweeping sharply through the 
dry branches. As he approached a little nearer, 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 195 

he thought he saw something white hanging in the 
midst of the tree — he paused and ceased whistling ; 
but on looking more narrowly, perceived that it 
was a place where the tree had been scathed by 
lightning, and the white wood laid bare. Suddenly 
he heard a groan — his teeth chattered and his knees 
smote against the saddle : it was but the rubbing 
of one huge bough upon another, as they were 
swayed about by the breeze. He passed the tree 
in safety, but new perils lay before him. 

About two. hundred yards from the tree a small 
brook crossed the road, and ran into a marshy and 
thickly-wooded glen, known by the name of Wiley's 
swamp. A few rough logs, laid side by side, served 
for a bridge over this stream. On that side of the 
road where the brook entered the wood, a group of 
oaks and chestnuts, matted thick with wild grape- 
vines, threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass 
this bridge was the severest trial. It was at this 
identical spot that the unfortunate Andre was cap- 
tured, and under the covert of those chestnuts and 
vines were the sturdy yeomen concealed who sur- 
prised him. This has ever since been considered a 
haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the 
schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark. 

As he approached the stream his heart began to 
thump ; he summoned up, however, all his resolu- 
tion, gave his horse half a score of kicks in the ribs, 
and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge ; 



196 Washington Irving. 

but instead of starting forward, the perverse old 
animal made a lateral movement, and ran broadside 
against the fence. Ichabod, whose fears increased 
with the delay, jerked the reins on the other side, 
and kicked lustily with the contrary foot : it was 
all in vain ; his steed started, it is true, but it was 
only to plunge to the opposite side of the road into 
a thicket of brambles and alder bushes. The school- 
master now bestowed both whip and heel upon the 
starveling ribs of old Gunpowder, who dashed for- 
ward, snuffling and snorting, but came to a stand just 
by the bridge, with a suddenness that had nearly 
sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just at this 
moment a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge 
caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark 
shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, 
he beheld something huge, misshapen, black and 
towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up 
in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to 
spring upon the traveller. 

The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rose upon 
his head with terror. What was to be done ? To 
turn and fly was now too late ; and besides, what 
chance was there of escaping ghost or goblin, if 
such it was, which could ride upon the wings of the 
wind ? Summoning up, therefore, a show of cour- 
age, he demanded in stammering accents — " Who 
are you ? " He received no reply. He repeated 
his demand in a still more agitated voice. Still 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 197 

there was no answer. Once more he cudgelled the 
sides of the inflexible Gunpowder, and, shutting his 
eyes, broke forth with involuntary fervor into a 
psalm tune. Just then the shadowy object of 
alarm put itself in motion, and, with a scramble 
and a bound, stood at once in the middle of the 
road. Though the night was dark and dismal, yet 
the form of the unknown might now in some degree 
be ascertained. He appeared to be a horseman of 
large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of 
powerful frame. He made no offer of molestation 
or sociability, but kept aloof on one side of the road, 
jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder, 
who had now got over his fright and waywardness. 
Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange mid- 
night companion, and bethought himself of the ad- 
venture of Brom Bones with the Galloping Hessian, 
now quickened his steed, in hopes of leaving him 
behind. The stranger, however, quickened his 
horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and 
fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind — the other 
did the same. His heart began to sink within 
him ; he endeavored to resume his psalm tune, but 
his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, 
and he could not utter a stave. There was some- 
thing in the moody and dogged silence of this per- 
tinacious companion, that was mysterious and 
appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On 
mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure 



198 Washington Irving. 

of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gi- 
gantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod 
was horror-struck, on perceiving that he was head- 
less ! — but his horror was still more increased, on 
observing that the head, which should have rested 
on his shoulders, was carried before him on the 
pommel of the saddle : his terror rose to despera- 
tion ; he rained a shower of kicks and blows upon 
Gunpowder, hoping, by a sudden movement, to 
give his companion the slip — but the spectre started 
full jump with him. Away then they dashed, 
through thick and thin ; stones flying, and sparks 
flashing at every bound. Ichabod's flimsy gar- 
ments fluttered in the air, as he stretched his long 
lank body away over his horse's head, in the eager- 
ness of his flight. 

They had now reached the road which turns off 
to Sleepy Hollow; but Gunpowder, who seemed 
possessed with a demon, instead of keeping up it, 
made an opposite turn, and plunged headlong down 
hill to the left. This road leads through a sandy 
hollow, shaded by trees for about a quarter of a 
mile, where it crosses the bridge famous in goblin 
story, and just beyond swells the green knoll on 
which stands the whitewashed church. 

As yet the panic of the steed had given his un- 
skilful rider an apparent advantage in the chase ; 
but just as he had got half way through the hol- 
low, the girths of the saddle gave way, and he felt 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 199 

it slipping from under him. He seized it by the 
pommel, and endeavored to hold it firm, but in 
vain ; and had just time to save himself by clasp- 
ing old Gunpowder round the neck, when the sad- 
dle fell to the earth, and he heard it trampled under 
foot by his pursuer. For a moment the terror of 
Hans Van Ripper's wrath passed across his mind 
— for it was his Sunday saddle ; but this was no 
time for petty fears ; the goblin was hard on his 
haunches ; and (unskilful rider that he was !) he 
had much ado to maintain his seat ; sometimes 
slipping on one side, sometimes on another, and 
sometimes jolted on the high ridge of his horse's 
backbone, with a violence that he verily feared 
would cleave him asunder. 

An opening in the trees now cheered him with 
the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. 
The wavering reflection of a silver star in the 
bosom of the brook told him that he was not mis- 
taken. He saw the walls of the church dimly 
glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected 
the place where Brom Bones's ghostly competitor 
had disappeared. " If I can but reach that bridge," 
thought Ichabod, " I am safe." Just then he heard 
the black steed panting and blowing close behind 
him ; he even fancied that he felt his hot breath. 
Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old Gun- 
powder sprang upon the bridge ; he thundered over 
the resounding planks ; he gained the opposite 



200 Washington Irving. 

side ; and now Ichabod cast a look behind to see if 
his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a 
flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the 
goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of 
hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to 
dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It en- 
countered his cranium with a tremendous crash 
— he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and 
Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider, 
passed by like a whirlwind. 

The next morning the old horse was found with- 
out his saddle, and with the bridle under his feet, 
soberly cropping the grass at his master's gate. 
Ichabod did not make his appearance at breakfast 
— dinner-hour came, but no Ichabod. The boys 
assembled at the school-house, and strolled idly 
about the banks of the brook ; but no school-mas- 
ter. Hans Van Ripper now began to feel some 
uneasiness about the fate of poor Ichabod, and his 
saddle. An inquiry was set on foot, and after dili- 
gent investigation they came upon his traces. In 
one part of the road leading to the church was 
found the saddle trampled in the dirt ; the tracks of 
horses' hoofs deeply dented in the road, and evi- 
dently at furious speed, were traced to the bridge, 
beyond which, on the bank of a broad part of the 
brook, where the water ran deep and black, was 
found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close 
beside it a shattered pumpkin. 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 201 

The brook was searched, but the body of the 
school-master was not to be discovered. Hans 
Van Ripper, as executor of his estate, examined 
the bundle which contained all his worldly effects. 
They consisted of two shirts and a half ; two stocks 
for the neck ; a pair or two of worsted stockings ; 
an old pair of corduroy smallclothes ; a rusty razor ; 
a book of psalm tunes, full of dogs' ears ; and a 
broken pitchpipe. As to the books and furniture 
of the school-house, they belonged to the com- 
munity, exceping Cotton Mather's History of 
Witchcraft, a New England Almanac, and a book 
of dreams and fortune-telling ; in which last was a 
sheet of foolscap much scribbled and blotted in 
several fruitless attempts to make a copy of verses 
in honor of the heiress of Van Tassel. These 
magic books and the poetic scrawl were forthwith 
consigned to the flames by Hans Van Ripper ; who 
from that time forward determined to send his chil- 
dren no more to school ; observing, that he never 
knew any good come of this same reading and writ- 
ing. Whatever money the school-master possessed, 
and he had received his quarter's pay but a day or 
two before, he must have had about his person at 
the time of his disappearance. 

The mysterious event caused much speculation 
at the church on the following Sunday. Knots of 
gazers and gossips were collected in the church- 
yard, at the bridge, and at the spot where the hat 



202 Washington Irving. 

and pumpkin had been found. The stories of Brou- 
wer, of Bones, and a whole budget of others, were 
called to mind ; and when they had diligently con- 
sidered them all, and compared them with the 
symptoms of the present case, they shook their 
heads, and came to the conclusion that Ichabod had 
been carried off by the Galloping Hessian. As he 
was a bachelor, and in nobody's debt, nobody 
troubled his head any more about him. The 
school was removed to a different quarter of the 
hollow, and another pedagogue reigned in his 
stead. 

It is true, an old farmer, who had been down to 
New York on a visit several years after, and from 
whom this account of the ghostly adventure was 
received, brought home the intelligence that Icha- 
bod Crane was still alive ; that he had left the 
neighborhood, partly through fear of the goblin 
and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in mortification 
at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress ; 
that he had changed his quarters to a distant part 
of the country ; had kept school and studied law 
at the same time, had been admitted to the bar, 
turned politician, electioneered, written for the 
newspapers, and finally had been made a justice of 
the Ten Pound Court. Brom Bones too, who 
shortly after his rival's disappearance conducted the 
blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar, was ob- 
served to look exceedingly knowing whenever the 



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 203 

story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into 
a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin ; 
which led some to suspect that he knew more about 
the matter than he chose to tell. 

The old country wives, however, who are the 
best judges of these matters, maintain to this day 
that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural 
means ; and it is a favorite story often told about 
the neighborhood round the winter evening fire. 
The bridge became more than ever an object of 
superstitious awe, and that may be the reason why 
the road has been altered of late years, so as to ap- 
proach the church by the border of the mill-pond. 
The school-house being deserted, soon fell to de- 
cay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost 
of the unfortunate pedagogue ; and the ploughboy, 
loitering homeward of a still summer evening, has 
often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a 
melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes 
of Sleepy Hollow. 




PHILIP OF POKANOKET. 



AN INDIAN MEMOIR. 



"As monumental bronze unchanged his look : 
A soul that pity touch'd but never shook : 
Train'd from his tree-rock'd cradle to his bier, 
The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook 
Impassive— fearing but the shame of fear— 
A stoic of the woods— a man without a tear. " 



Campbell. 



IT is to be regretted that those early writers, who 
treated of the discovery and settlement of 
America, have not given us more particular and 
candid accounts of the remarkable characters that 
flourished in savage life. The scanty anecdotes 
which have reached us are full of peculiarity and 
interest ; they furnish us with nearer glimpses of 
human nature, and show what man is in a com- 
paratively primitive state, and what he owes to 
civilization. There is something of the charm of 
discovery in lighting upon these wild and unex- 
plored tracts of human nature; in witnessing, as 
it were, the native growth of moral sentiment, and 

perceiving those generous and romantic qualities 

204 



Philip of Pokanoket. 205 

which have been artificially cultivated by society, 
vegetating in spontaneous hardihood and rude 
magnificence. 

In civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed 
almost the existence, of man depends so much upon 
the opinion of his fellow-men, he is constantly act- 
ing a studied part. The bold and peculiar traits 
of native character are refined away, or softened 
down by the levelling influence of what is termed 
good-breeding ; and he practises so many petty 
deceptions, and affects so many generous senti- 
ments, for the purposes of popularity, that it is 
difficult to distinguish his real from his artificial 
character. The Indian, on the contrary, free from 
the restraints and refinements of polished life, and, 
in a great degree, a solitary and independent being, 
obeys the impulses of his inclination or the dic- 
tates of his judgment ; and thus the attributes of 
his nature, being freely indulged, grow singly great 
and striking. Society is like a lawn, where every 
roughness is smoothed, every bramble eradicated, 
and where the eye is delighted by the smiling ver- 
dure of a velvet surface ; he, however, who would 
study nature in its wildness and variety, must 
plunge into the forest, must explore the glen, must 
stem the torrent, and dare the precipice. 

These reflections arose on casually looking 
through a volume of early colonial history, wherein 
are recorded, with great bitterness, the outrages of 



206 Washington Irving. 

the Indians, and their wars with the settlers of New 
England. It is painful to perceive even from these 
partial narratives, how the footsteps of civilization 
may be traced in the blood of the aborigines ; how 
easily the colonists were moved to hostility by the 
lust of conquest ; how merciless and exterminating 
was their warfare. The imagination shrinks at the 
idea, how many intellectual beings were hunted 
from the earth, how many brave and noble hearts, 
of nature's sterling coinage, were broken down and 
trampled in the dust ! 

Such was the fate of Philip of Pokanoket, an 
Indian warrior, whose name was once a terror 
throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. He 
was the most distinguished of a number of contem- 
porary Sachems who reigned over the Pequods, 
the Narragansets, the Wampanoags, and the other 
eastern tribes, at the time of the first settlement of 
New England ; a band of native untaught heroes, 
who made the most generous struggle of which 
human nature is capable, fighting to the last gasp 
in the cause of their country, without a hope of 
victory or a thought of renown. Worthy of an 
age of poetry, and fit subjects for local story and 
romantic fiction, they have left scarcely any authen- 
tic traces on the page of history, but stalk, like 
gigantic shadows, in the dim twilight of tradition.* 

* While correcting the proof sheets of this article, the author is informed 
that a celebrated English poet has nearly finished an heroic poem on the 
story of Philip of Pokanoket. 



Philip of Pokanoket 207 

When the pilgrims, as the Plymouth settlers are 
called by their descendants, first took refuge on the 
shores of the New World, from the religious per- 
secutions of the Old, their situation was to the last 
degree gloomy and disheartening. Few in number, 
and that number rapidly perishing away through 
sickness and hardships ; surrounded by a howling 
wilderness and savage tribes ; exposed to the rigors 
of an almost arctic winter, and the vicissitudes of 
an ever-shifting climate ; their minds were filled 
with doleful forebodings, and nothing preserved 
them from sinking into despondency but the strong 
excitement of religious enthusiasm. In this forlorn 
situation they were visited by Massasoit, chief Sag- 
amore of the Wampanoags, a powerful chief, who 
reigned over a great extent of country, Instead of 
taking advantage of the scanty number of the 
strangers, and expelling them from his territories, 
into which they had intruded, he seemed at once to 
conceive for them a generous friendship, and ex- 
tended towards them the rites of primitive hospi- 
tality. He came early in the spring to their set- 
tlement of New Plymouth, attended by a mere 
handful of followers, entered into a solemn league 
of peace and amity ; sold them a portion of the soil, 
and promised to secure for them the good-will of 
his savage allies. Whatever maybe said of Indian 
perfidy, it is certain that the integrity and good faith 
of Massasoit have never been impeached. He con- 
tinued a firm and magnanimous friend of the white 



2o8 Washington Irving. 

men ; suffering them to extend their possessions, 
and to strengthen themselves in the land ; and be- 
traying no jealousy of their increasing power and 
prosperity. Shortly before his death he came once 
more to New Plymouth, with his son Alexander, 
for the purpose of renewing the covenant of peace, 
and of securing it to his posterity. 

At this conference he endeavored to protect the 
religion of his forefathers from the encroaching 
zeal of the missionaries ; and stipulated that no 
further attempt should be made to draw off his 
people from their ancient faith ; but, finding the 
English obstinately opposed to any such condition, 
he mildly relinquished the demand. Almost the 
last act of his life was to bring his two sons, Alex- 
ander and Philip (as they had been named by the 
English), to the residence of a principal settler, 
recommending mutual kindness and confidence ; 
and entreating that the same love and amity which 
had existed between the white men and himself 
might be continued afterwards with his children. 
The good old Sachem died in peace, and was hap- 
pily gathered to his fathers before sorrow came 
upon his tribe ; his children remained behind to 
experience the ingratitude of white men. 

His eldest son, Alexander, succeeded him. He 
was of a quick and impetuous temper, and proudly 
tenacious of his hereditary rights and dignity. 
The intrusive policy and dictatorial conduct of the 



Philip of Pokanoket. 209 

strangers excited his indignation ; and he beheld 
with uneasiness their exterminating wars with the 
neighboring tribes. He was doomed soon to incur 
their hostility, being accused of plotting with the 
Narragansets to rise against the English and drive 
them from the land. It is impossible to say whether 
this accusation was warranted by facts or was 
grounded on mere suspicion. It is evident, how- 
ever, by the violent and overbearing measures of 
the settlers, that they had by this time begun to 
feel conscious of the rapid increase of their power, 
and to grow harsh and inconsiderate in their treat- 
ment of the natives. They despatched an armed 
force to seize upon Alexander, and to bring him 
before their courts. He was traced to his wood- 
land haunts, and surprised at a hunting house, 
where he was reposing with a band of his followers, 
unarmed, after the toils of the chase. The sudden- 
ness of his arrest, and the outrage offered to his 
sovereign dignity, so preyed upon the irascible feel- 
ings of this proud savage, as to throw him into a 
raging fever. He was permitted to return home, 
on condition of sending his son as a pledge for his 
reappearance ; but the blow he had received was 
fatal, and before he had reached his home he fell a 
victim to the agonies of a wounded spirit. 

The successor of Alexander was Metacomet, or 
King Philip, as he was called by the settlers, on 
account of his lofty spirit and ambitious temper. 



210 Washington Irving. 

These, together with his well-known energy and 
enterprise, had rendered him an object of great 
jealousy and apprehension, and he was accused of 
having always cherished a secret and implacable 
hostility towards the whites. Such may very prob- 
ably, and very naturally, have been the case. He 
considered them as originally but mere intruders 
into the country, who had presumed upon indul- 
gence, and were extending an influence baneful to 
savage life. He saw the whole race of his country- 
men melting before them from the face of the earth ; 
their territories slipping from their hands, and their 
tribes becoming feeble, scattered and dependent. 
It maybe said that the soil was originally purchased 
by the settlers ; but who does not know the nature 
of Indian purchases, in the early period of coloniza- 
tion ? The Europeans always made thrifty bargains 
through their superior adroitness in traffic ; and 
they gained vast accessions of territory by easily 
provoked hostilities. An uncultivated savage is 
never a nice inquirer into the refinements of the 
law, by which an injury may be gradually and le- 
gally inflicted. Leading facts are all by which he 
judges ; and it was enough for Philip to know that 
before the intrusion of the Europeans his country- 
men were lords of the soil, and that now they were 
becoming vagabonds in the land of their fathers. 

But whatever may have been his feelings of gen- 
eral hostility, and his particular indignation at the 



Philip of Pokanoket 211 

treatment of his brother, he suppressed them for 
the present, renewed the contract with the settlers, 
and resided peaceably for many years at Pokanoket, 
or, as it was called by the English, Mount Hope,* 
the ancient seat of dominion of his tribe. Suspi- 
cions, however, which were at first but vague and 
indefinite, began to acquire form and substance ; and 
he was at length charged with attempting to insti- 
gate the various Eastern tribes to rise at once, and, 
by a simultaneous effort, to throw off the yoke of 
their oppressors. It is difficult at this distant period 
to assign the proper credit due to these early accu- 
sations against the Indians. There was a prone- 
ness to suspicion, and an aptness to acts of violence 
on the part of the whites, that gave weight and im- 
portance to every idle tale. Informers abounded 
where talebearing met with countenance and reward ; 
and the sword was readily unsheathed when its suc- 
cess was certain, and it carved out empire. 

The only positive evidence on record against 
Philip is the accusation of one Sausaman, a renegado 
Indian, whose natural cunning had been quickened 
by a partial education which he had received among 
the settlers. He changed his faith and allegiance 
two or three times, with a facility that evinced the 
looseness of his principles. He had acted for some 
time as Philip's confidential secretary and counsel- 
lor, and had enjoyed his bounty and protection. 

* Now Bristol, Rhode Island. 



2i2 Washineton Irving. 



s 



Finding, however, that the clouds of adversity 
were gathering round his patron, he abandoned his 
service and went over to the whites ; and, in order 
to gain their favor, charged his former benefactor 
with plotting against their safety. A rigorous in- 
vestigation took place. Philip and several of his 
subjects submitted to be examined, but nothing was 
proved against them. The settlers, however, had 
now gone too far to retract ; they had previously 
determined that Philip was a dangerous neighbor ; 
they had publicly evinced their distrust ; and had 
done enough to insure his hostility ; according, 
therefore, to the usual mode of reasoning in these 
cases, his destruction had become necessary to 
their security. Sausaman, the treacherous informer, 
was shortly afterwards found dead, in a pond, hav- 
ing fallen a victim to the vengeance of his tribe. 
Three Indians, one of whom was a friend and coun- 
sellor of Philip, were apprehended and tried, and 
on the testimony of one very questionable witness, 
were condemned and executed as murderers. 

This treatment of his subjects, and ignominious 
punishment of his friend, outraged the pride and 
exasperated the passions of Philip, The bolt which 
had fallen thus at his very feet awakened him to 
the gathering storm, and he determined to trust 
himself no longer in the power of the white men. 
The fate of his insulted and broken-hearted brother 
still rankled in his mind ; and he had a further 



Philip of Pokanoket. 213 

warning in the tragical story of Miantonimo, a 
great Sachem of the Narragansets, who, after man- 
fully facing his accusers before a tribunal of the 
colonists, exculpating himself from a charge of con- 
spiracy, and receiving assurances of amity, had 
been perfidiously despatched at their instigation. 
Philip, therefore, gathered his fighting men about 
him ; persuaded all strangers that he could to join 
his cause ; sent the women and children to theNar- 
ragansets for safety ; and wherever he appeared, 
was continually surrounded by armed warriors. 

When the two parties were thus in a state of dis- 
trust and irritation, the least spark was sufficient to 
set them in a flame. The Indians, having weapons 
in their hands, grew mischievous, and committed 
various petty depredations. In one of their ma- 
raudings a warrior was fired on and killed by a set- 
tler. This was the signal for open hostilities ; the 
Indians pressed to revenge the death of their corn- 
rade, and the alarm of war resounded through the 
Plymouth colony. 

In the early chronicles of these dark and melan- 
choly times we meet with many indications of the 
diseased state of the public mind. The gloom of 
religious abstraction, and the wildness of their 
situation, among trackless forests and savage tribes, 
had disposed the colonists to superstitious fancies* 
and had filled their imaginations with the frightful 
chimeras of witchcraft and spectrology. They were 



2i4 Washington Irving. 



& vvu ax vxii fe 



much given also to a belief in omens. The troubles 
with Philip and his Indians were preceded, we are 
told, by a variety of those awful warnings which 
forerun great and public calamities. The perfect 
form of an Indian bow appeared in the air at New 
Plymouth, which was looked upon by the inhabi- 
tants as a " prodigious apparition." At Hadley, 
Northampton, and other towns in their neighbor- 
hood, " was heard the report of a great piece of 
ordnance, with a shaking of the earth and a con- 
siderable echo." * Others were alarmed on a still, 
sunshiny morning, by the discharge of guns and 
muskets ; bullets seemed to whistle past them, and 
the noise of drums resounded in the air, seeming 
to pass away to the westward ; others fancied that 
they heard the galloping of horses over their heads ; 
and certain monstrous births, which took place 
about the time, filled the superstitious in some 
towns with doleful forebodings. Many of these 
portentous sights and sounds may be ascribed to 
natural phenomena : to the northern lights which 
occur vividly in those latitudes ; the meteors which 
explode in the air ; the casual rushing of a blast 
through the top branches of the forest ; the crash 
of fallen trees or disrupted rocks ; and to those 
other uncouth sounds and echoes which will some- 
times strike the ear so strangely amidst the pro- 
found stillness of woodland solitudes. These may 

* The Rev. Increase Mather's History. 



Philip of Pokanoket 215 

have startled some melancholy imaginations, may 
have been exaggerated by the love of the marvel- 
lous, and listened to with that avidity with which 
we devour whatever is fearful and mysterious. 
The universal currency of these superstitious fan- 
cies, and the grave record made of them by one 
of the learned men of the day, are strongly charac- 
teristic of the times. 

The nature of the contest that ensued was such 
as too often distinguishes the warfare between civ- 
ilized men and savages. On the part of the whites 
it was conducted with superior skill and success, 
but with a wastefulness of the blood, and a disre- 
gard of the natural rights of their antagonists : on 
the part of the Indians it was waged with the des- 
peration of men fearless of death, and who had 
nothing to expect from peace but humiliation, de- 
pendence, and decay. 

The events of the war are transmitted to us by a 
worthy clergyman of the time ; who dwells with 
horror and indignation on every hostile act of the 
Indians, however justifiable, whilst he mentions 
with applause the most sanguinary atrocities of the 
whites. Philip is reviled as a murderer and a 
traitor ; without considering that he was a true born 
prince, gallantly fighting at the head of his subjects 
to avenge the wrongs of his family ; to retrieve the 
tottering power of his line ; and to deliver his native 
land from the oppression of usurping strangers. 



2x6 Washington Irving, 

The project of a wide and simultaneous revolt, if 
such had really been formed, was worthy of a ca- 
pacious mind, and, had it not been prematurely 
discovered, might have been overwhelming in its 
consequences. The war that actually broke out 
was but a war of detail, a mere succession of casual 
exploits and unconnected enterprises. Still it sets 
forth the military genius and daring prowess of 
Philip ; and wherever, in the prejudiced and pas- 
sionate narrations that have been given of it, we 
can arrive at simple facts, we find him displaying a 
vigorous mind, a fertility of expedients, a contempt 
of suffering and hardship, and an unconquerable 
resolution, that command our sympathy and ap- 
plause. 

Driven from his paternal domains at Mount 
Hope, he threw himself into the depths of those 
vast and trackless forests, that skirted the settlements 
and were almost impervious to anything but a wild 
beast, or an Indian. Here he gathered together 
his forces, like the storm accumulating its stores of 
mischief in the bosom of the thunder cloud, and 
would suddenly emerge at a time and place least 
expected, carrying havoc and dismay into the vil- 
lages. There were now and then indications of 
these impending ravages, that filled the minds of 
the colonists with awe and apprehension. The 
report of a distant gun would perhaps be heard 
from the solitary woodland, where there was known 



Philip of Pokanoket. 217 

to be no white man ; the cattle which had been 
wandering in the woods would sometimes return 
home wounded ; or an Indian or two would be seen 
lurking about the skirts of the forests, and suddenly 
disappearing ; as the lightning will sometimes be 
seen playing silently about the edge of the cloud 
that is brewing up the tempest. 

Though sometimes pursued and even surrounded 
by the settlers, yet Philip as often escaped almost 
miraculously from their toils, and, plunging into 
the wilderness, would be lost to all search or inquiry, 
until he again emerged at some far distant quarter, 
laying the country desolate. Among his strong- 
holds, were the great swamps or morasses, which 
extend in some parts of New England ; composed 
of loose bogs of deep black mud ; perplexed with 
thickets, brambles, rank weeds, the shattered and 
mouldering trunks of fallen trees, overshadowed by 
lugubrious hemlocks. The uncertain footing and 
the tangled mazes of these shaggy wilds, rendered 
them almost impracticable to the white man, though 
the Indian could thrid their labyrinths with the 
agility of a deer. Into one of these, the great 
swamp of Pocasset Neck, was Philip once driven 
with a band of his followers. The English did not 
dare to pursue him, fearing to venture into these 
dark and frightful recesses, where they might perish 
in fens and miry pits, or be shot down by lurking 
foes. They therefore invested the entrance to the 



218 Washington Irving. 

Neck, and began to build a fort, with the thought 
of starving out the foe ; but Philip and his warriors 
wafted themselves on a raft over an arm of the sea, 
in the dead of the night, leaving the women and 
children behind ; and escaped away to the westward, 
kindling the flames of war among the tribes of 
Massachusetts and the Nipmuck country, and 
threatening the colony of Connecticut. 

In this way Philip became a theme of universal 
apprehension. The mystery in which he was 
enveloped exaggerated his real terrors. He was 
an evil that walked in darkness ; whose coming 
none could foresee, and against which none knew 
when to be on the alert. The whole country 
abounded with rumors and alarms. Philip seemed 
almost possessed of ubiquity ; for, in whatever 
part of the widely-extended frontier an irruption 
from the forest took place, Philip was said to be 
its leader. Many superstitious notions also were 
circulated concerning him. He was said to deal 
in necromancy, and to be attended by an old 
Indian witch or prophetess, whom he consulted, 
and who assisted him by her charms and incanta- 
tions. This indeed was frequently the case with 
Indian chiefs ; either through their own credulity, 
or to act upon that of their followers : and the 
influence of the prophet and the dreamer over 
Indian superstition has been fully evidenced in 
recent instances of savage warfare. 

At the time that Philip effected his escape from 



Philip of Pokanoket 219 

Pocasset, his fortunes were in a desperate condi- 
tion. His forces had been thinned by repeated 
fights, and he had lost almost the whole of his 
resources. In this time of adversity he found a 
faithful friend in Canonchet, chief Sachem of all 
the Narragansets. He was the son and heir of 
Miantonimo, the great Sachem, who, as already 
mentioned, after an honorable acquittal of the 
charge of conspiracy, had been privately put to 
death at the perfidious instigations of the settlers. 
" He was the heir," says the old chronicler, " of all 
his father's pride and insolence, as well as of his 
malice towards the English " ;— he certainly was 
the heir of his insults and injuries, and the legit- 
imate avenger of his murder. Though he had 
forborne to take an active part in this hopeless 
war, yet he received Philip and his broken forces 
with open arms ; and gave them the most generous 
countenance and support This at once drew upon 
him the hostility of the English ; and it was de- 
termined to strike a signal blow that should involve 
both the Sachems in one common ruin. A great 
force was, therefore, gathered together from Mas- 
sachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut, and was 
sent into the Narraganset country in the depth 
of winter, when the swamps, being frozen and 
leafless, could be traversed with comparative 
facility, and would no longer afford dark and 
impenetrable fastnesses to the Indians. 

Apprehensive of attack, Canonchet had con- 



2 2o Washington Irving. 

veyed the greater part of his stores, together with 
the old, the infirm, the women and children of his 
tribe, to a strong fortress ; where he and Philip 
had likewise drawn up the flower of their forces. 
This fortress, deemed by the Indians impregnable, 
was situated upon a rising mound or kind of island, 
of five or six acres, in the midst of a swamp ; it 
was constructed with a degree of judgment and 
skill vastly superior to what is usually displayed 
in Indian fortification, and indicative of the martial 
genius of these two chieftains. 

Guided by a renegado Indian, the English pene- 
trated, through December snows, to this strong- 
hold, and came upon the garrison by surprise, 
The fight was fierce and tumultuous. The assail- 
ants were repulsed in their first attack, and several 
of their bravest officers were shot down in the act 
of storming the fortress sword in hand. The 
assault was renewed with greater success. A lodg- 
ment was effected. The Indians were driven from 
one post to another. They disputed their ground 
inch by inch, fighting with the fury of despair. 
Most of their veterans were cut to pieces, and 
after a long and bloody battle, Philip and Canon- 
chet, with a handful of surviving warriors, retreated 
from the fort, and took refuge in the thickets of 
the surrounding forest. 

The victors set fire to the wigwams and the fort ; 
the whole was soon in a blaze ; many of the old 



Philip of Pokanoket. 221 

men, the women and the children perished in the 
flames. This last outrage overcame even the stoi- 
cism of the savage. The neighboring woods re- 
sounded with the yells of rage and despair, uttered 
by the fugitive warriors, as they beheld the de- 
struction of their dwellings, and heard the ago- 
nizing cries of their wives and offspring. " The 
burning of the wigwams," says a contemporary 
writer, " the shrieks and cries of the women and 
children, and the yelling of the warriors, exhibited a 
most horrible and affecting scene, so that it greatly- 
moved some of the soldiers." The same writer 
cautiously adds, " they were in much doubt then, 
and afterwards seriously inquired, whether burn- 
ing their enemies alive could be consistent with 
humanity, and the benevolent principles of the 
Gospel."* 

The fate of the brave and generous Canonchet 
is worthy of particular mention : the last scene of 
his life is one of the noblest instances on record of 
Indian magnanimity. 

Broken down in his power and resources by this 
signal defeat, yet faithful to his ally, and to the 
hapless cause which he had espoused, he rejected 
all overtures of peace, offered on condition of be- 
traying Philip and his followers, and declared that 
" he would fight it out to the last man, rather than 
become a servant to the English." His home be- 

* MS. of the Rev. W. Ruggles. 



222 Washington Irving. 

ing destroyed ; his country harassed and laid waste 
by the incursions of the conquerors ; he was obliged 
to wander away to the banks of the Connecticut ; 
where he formed a rallying point to the whole body 
of western Indians, and laid waste several of the 
English settlements. 

Early in the spring he departed on a hazardous 
expedition, with only thirty chosen men, to pene- 
trate to Seaconck, in the vicinity of Mount Hope, 
and to procure seed corn to plant for the sustenance 
of his troops. This little band of adventurers had 
passed safely through the Pequod country, and were 
in the centre of the Narraganset, resting at some 
wigwams near Pawtucket River, when an alarm was 
given of an approaching enemy. — Having but seven 
men by him at the time, Canonchet despatched two 
of them to the top of a neighboring hill, to bring 
intelligence of the foe. 

Panic-struck by the appearance of a troop of 
English and Indians rapidly advancing, they fled 
in breathless terror past their chieftain, without 
stopping to inform him of the danger. Canonchet 
sent another scout, who did the same. He then 
sent two more, one of whom, hurrying back in con- 
fusion and affright, told him that the whole 
British army was at hand. Canonchet saw there 
was no choice but immediate flight. He attempted 
to escape round the hill, but was perceived and hotly 
pursued by the hostile Indians and a few of the 




THE CAPTURE OF CANONCHET 



yap**^^^^9 



Philip of Pokanoket. 223 

fleetest of the English. Finding the swiftest pur- 
suer close upon his heels, he threw off, first his 
blanket, then his silver-laced coat and belt of peag, 
by which his enemies knew him to be Canonchet, 
and redoubled the eagerness of pursuit. 

At length, in dashing through the river, his foot 
slipped upon a stone, and he fell so deep as to wet 
his gun. This accident so struck him with despair, 
that, as he afterwards confessed, " his heart and his 
bowels turned within him, and he became like a 
rotten stick, void of strength." 

To such a degree was he unnerved, that, being 
seized by a Pequod Indian within a short distance 
of the river, he made no resistance, though a man 
of great vigor of body and boldness of heart. But 
on being made prisoner the whole pride of his spirit 
arose within him ; and from that moment, we find, 
in the anecdotes given by his enemies, nothing but 
repeated flashes of elevated and prince-like heroism. 
Being questioned by one of the English who first 
came up with him, and who had not attained his 
twenty-second year, the proud-hearted warrior, look- 
ing with lofty contempt upon his youthful counte- 
nance, replied, "You are a child — you cannot 
understand matters of war — let your brother or 
your chief come— him will I answer." 

Though repeated offers were made to him of his 
life, on condition of submitting with his nation to 
the English, yet he rejected them with disdain, and 



224 Washington Irving. 

refused to send any proposals of the kind to the 
great body of his subjects ; saying, that he knew 
none of them would comply. Being reproached 
with his breach of faith towards the whites ; his 
boast that he would not deliver up a Wampanoag 
nor the paring of a Wampanoag's nail ; and his 
threat that he would burn the English alive in their 
houses ; he disdained to justify himself, haughtily an- 
swering that others were as forward for the war as 
himself, and "he desired to hear no more thereof." 

So noble and unshaken a spirit, so true a fidelity 
to his cause and his friend, might have touched the 
feelings of the generous and the brave ; but Canon- 
chet was an Indian ; a being towards whom war 
had no courtesy, humanity no law, religion no com- 
passion — he was condemned to die. The last words 
of him that are recorded, are worthy the greatness 
of his soul. When sentence of death was passed 
upon him, he observed " that he liked it well, for he 
should die before his heart was soft, or he had 
spoken anything unworthy of himself." His ene- 
mies gave him the death of a soldier, for he was shot 
at Stoningham, by three young Sachems of his own 
rank. 

The defeat at the Narraganset fortress, and the 
death of Canonchet, were fatal blows to the fortunes 
of King Philip. He made an ineffectual attempt 
to raise a head of war by stirring up the Mohawks 
to take arms ; but though possessed of the native 



Philip of Pokanoket. 225 

talents of a statesman, his arts were counteracted 
by the superior arts of his enlightened enemies, and 
the terror of their warlike skill began to subdue the 
resolution of the neighboring tribes. The unfortu- 
nate chieftain saw himself daily stripped of power, 
and his ranks rapidly thinning around him. Some 
were suborned by the whites ; others fell victims 
to hunger and fatigue, and to the frequent attacks 
by which they were harassed. His stores were all 
captured ; his chosen friends were swept away from 
before his eyes ; his uncle was shot down by his 
side ; his sister was carried into captivity ; and in 
one of his narrow escapes he was compelled to leave 
his beloved wife and only son to the mercy of the 
enemy. " His ruin," says the historian, "being 
thus gradually carried on, his misery was not pre- 
vented, but augmented thereby ; being himself made 
acquainted with the sense and experimental feeling 
of the captivity of his children, loss of friends, 
slaughter of his subjects, bereavement of all family 
relations, and being stripped of all outward comforts, 
before his own life should be taken away." 

To fill up the measure of his misfortunes, his own 
followers began to plot against his life, that by 
sacrificing him they might purchase dishonorable 
safety. Through treachery a number of his faith- 
ful adherents, the subjects of Wetamoe, an Indian 
princess of Pocasset, a near kinswoman and confed- 
erate of Philip, were betrayed into the hands of the 



226 Washington Irving. 

enemy. Wetamoe was among them at the time, 
and attempted to make her escape by crossing a 
neighboring river : either exhausted by swimming, 
or starved by cold and hunger, she was found dead 
and naked near the water side. But persecution 
ceased not at the grave. Even death, the refuge 
of the wretched, where the wicked commonly cease 
from troubling, was no protection to this outcast 
female, whose great crime was affectionate fidelity 
to her kinsman and her friend. Her corpse was 
the object of unmanly and dastardly vengeance ; 
the head was severed from the body and set upon a 
pole, and was thus exposed at Taunton, to the view 
of her captive subjects. They immediately recog- 
nized the features of their unfortunate queen, and 
were so affected at this barbarous spectacle, that we 
are told they broke forth into the " most horrible 
and diabolical lamentations." 

However Philip had borne up against the com- 
plicated miseries and misfortunes that surrounded 
him, the treachery of his followers seemed to wring 
his heart and reduce him to despondency. It is 
said that "he never rejoiced afterwards, nor had 
success in any of his designs." The spring of 
hope was broken — the ardor of enterprise was 
extinguished — he looked around, and all was danger 
and darkness ; there was no eye to pity, nor any 
arm that could bring deliverance. With a scanty 
band of followers, who still remained true to his 



Philip of Pokanoket. 227 

desperate fortunes, the unhappy Philip wandered 
back to the vicinity of Mount Hope, the ancient 
dwelling of his fathers. Here he lurked about, 
like a spectre, among the scenes of former power 
and prosperity, now bereft of home, of family, and 
friend. There needs no better picture of his des- 
titute and piteous situation, than that furnished by 
the homely pen of the chronicler, who is unwarily 
enlisting the feelings of the reader in favor of the 
hapless warrior whom he reviles. " Philip," he 
says, " like a savage wild beast, having been hunted 
by the English forces through the woods, above 
a hundred miles backward and forward, at last was 
driven to his own den upon Mount Hope, where 
he retired, with a few of his best friends, into a 
swamp, which proved but a prison to keep him 
fast till the messengers of death came by divine 
permission to execute vengeance upon him." 

Even in this last refuge of desperation and 
despair, a sullen grandeur gathers round his 
memory. We picture him to ourselves seated 
among his care-worn followers, brooding in silence 
over his blasted fortunes, and acquiring a savage 
sublimity from the wildness and dreariness of his 
lurking-place. Defeated, but not dismayed — 
crushed to the earth, but not humiliated — he 
seemed to grow more haughty beneath disaster, 
and to experience a fierce satisfaction in draining 
the last dregs of bitterness. Little minds are 



228 Washington Irving. 

tamed and subdued by misfortune ; but great 
minds rise above it. The very idea of submission 
awakened the fury of Philip, and he smote to death 
one of his followers, who proposed an expedient 
of peace. The brother of the victim made his 
escape, and in revenge betrayed the retreat of his 
chieftain. A body of white men and Indians were 
immediately despatched to the swamp where Philip 
lay crouched, glaring with fury and despair. Be- 
fore he was aware of their approach, they had 
begun to surround him. In a little while he saw 
five of his trustiest followers laid dead at his feet ; 
all resistance was vain ; he rushed forth from his 
covert, and made a headlong attempt to escape, 
but was shot through the heart by a renegado 
Indian of his own nation. 

Such is the scanty story of the brave, but un- 
fortunate, King Philip ; persecuted while living, 
slandered and dishonored when dead. If, how- 
ever, we consider even the prejudiced anecdotes 
furnished us by his enemies, we may perceive in 
them traces of amiable and lofty character suffi- 
cient to awaken sympathy for his fate, and respect 
for his memory. We find that, amidst all the 
harassing cares and ferocious passions of constant 
warfare, he was alive to the softer feelings of con- 
nubial love and paternal tenderness, and to the 
generous sentiment of friendship. The captivity 
of his "beloved wife and only son " are mentioned 



Philip of Pokanoket. 229 

with exultation as causing him poignant misery : 
the death of any near friend is triumphantly 
recorded as a new blow on his sensibilities ; but 
the treachery and desertion of many of his follow- 
ers, in whose affections he had confided, is said to 
have desolated his heart, and to have bereaved 
him of all further comfort. He was a patriot 
attached to his native soil — a prince true to his 
subjects, and indignant of their wrongs — a soldier, 
daring in battle, firm in adversity, patient of fatigue, 
of hunger, of every variety of bodily suffering, 
and ready to perish in the cause he had espoused. 
Proud of heart, and with an untamable love of 
natural liberty, he preferred to enjoy it among 
the beasts of the forests or in the dismal and 
famished recesses of swamps and morasses, rather 
than bow his haughty spirit to submission, and 
live dependent and despised in the ease and luxury 
of the settlements. With heroic qualities and 
bold achievements that would have graced a civil- 
ized warrior, and have rendered him the theme of 
the poet and the historian, he lived a w T anderer 
and a fugitive in his native land, and went down, 
like a lonely bark foundering amid darkness and 
tempest — without a pitying eye to weep his fall, 
or a friendly hand to record his struggle. 



THE EARLY EXPERIENCES OF RALPH 
RINGWOOD. 

NOTED DOWN FROM HIS CONVERSATIONS : BY 
GEOFFREY CRAYON, GENT.* 

AM a Kentuckian by residence and choice, but 
± a Virginian by birth. The cause of my first 
leaving the ' Ancient Dominion,' and emigrating to 
Kentucky, was a jackass ! You stare, but have a 
little patience, and I '11 soon show you how it came 
to pass. My father, who was of one of the old 
Virginian families, resided in Richmond. He was 
a widower, and his domestic affairs were managed 
by a housekeeper of the old school, such as used to 
administer the concerns of opulent Virginian house- 
holds. She was a dignitary that almost rivalled my 

* Ralph Ringwood, though a fictitious name, is a real personage, — the 
late Governor Duval of Florida. I have given some ancedotes of his early 
and eccentric career, in, as nearly as I can recollect, the very words in 
which he related them. They certainly afford strong temptations to the 
embellishments of fiction ; but I thought them so strikingly characteristic 
of the individual, and of the scenes and society into which his peculiar 
humors carried him, that I preferred giving them in their original sim- 
plicity. 

230 



Ralph Ringwood. 231 

father in importance, and seemed to think every- 
thing belonged to her ; in fact, she was so consid- 
erate in her economy, and so careful of expense, as 
sometimes to vex my father, who would swear she 
was disgracing him by her meanness. She always 
appeared with that ancient insignia of housekeeping 
trust and authority, a great bunch of keys jingling 
at her girdle. She superintended the arrangements 
of the table at every meal, and saw that the dishes 
were all placed according to her primitive notions 
of symmetry. In the evening she took her stand and 
served out tea with a mingled respectfulness and 
pride of station truly exemplary. Her great ambi- 
tion was to have everything in order, and that the 
establishment under her sway should be cited as a 
model of good housekeeping. If anything went 
wrong, poor old Barbara would take it to heart, and 
sit in her room and cry, until a few chapters in the 
Bible would quiet her spirits, and make all calm 
again. The Bible, in fact, was her constant resort 
in time of trouble. She opened it indiscriminately, 
and whether she chanced among the Lamentations 
of Jeremiah, the Canticles of Solomon, or the rough 
enumeration of the tribes in Deuteronomy, a chap- 
ter was a chapter, and operated like balm to her soul. 
Such was our good old housekeeper Barbara ; who 
was destined, unwittingly, to have a most important 
effect upon my destiny. 

" It came to pass, during the days of my juve- 



2$2 Washington Irving. 

nility, while I was yet what is termed ' an unlucky 
boy,' that a gentleman of our neighborhood, a 
great advocate for experiments and improvements 
of all kinds, took it into his head that it would be 
an immense public advantage to introduce a breed 
of mules, and accordingly imported three jacks to 
stock the neighborhood. This in a part of the 
country where the people cared for nothing but 
blood horses ! Why, sir, they would have consid- 
ered their mares disgraced, and their whole stud 
dishonored by such a misalliance. The whole 
matter was a town-talk, and a town-scandal. The 
worthy amalgamator of quadrupeds found himself 
in a dismal scrape ; so he backed out in time, 
abjured the whole doctrine of amalgamation, and 
turned his jacks loose to shift for themselves upon 
the town common, There they used to run about 
and lead an idle, good-for-nothing, holiday life, the 
happiest animals in the country. 

" It so happened that my way to school lay 
across the common. The first time that I saw one 
of these animals, it set up a braying and frightened 
me confoundedly. However, I soon got over my 
fright, and seeing that it had something of a horse 
look, my Virginian love for anything of the eques- 
trian species predominated, and I determined to 
back it. I accordingly applied at a grocer's shop, 
procured a cord that had been round a loaf of sugar, 
and made a kind of halter ; then, summoning some of 



Ralph Ringwood. 233 

my school-fellows, we drove master Jack about the 
common until we hemmed him in in an angle of a 
'worm-fence.' After some difficulty, we fixed the 
halter round his muzzle, and I mounted. Up flew 
his heels, away I went over his head, and off he 
scampered. However, I was on my legs in a twin- 
kling, gave chase, caught him, and remounted. By 
dint of repeated tumbles I soon learned to stick to 
his back, so that he could no more cast me than he 
could his own skin. From that time, master Jack 
and his companions had a scampering life of it, for 
we all rode them between school-hours, and on holi- 
day afternoons ; and you may be sure school-boys' 
nags are never permitted to suffer the grass to grow 
under their feet. They soon became so knowing, 
that they took to their heels at sight of a school- 
boy ; and we were generally much longer in chasing 
than we were in riding them. 

" Sunday approached, on which I projected an 
equestrian excursion on one of these long-eared 
steeds. As I knew the jacks would be in great de- 
mand on Sunday morning, I secured one over night, 
and conducted him home, to be ready for an early out- 
set. But where was I to quarter him for the night ? 
I could not put him in the stable ; our old black 
groom George was as absolute in that domain as 
Barbara was within doors, and would have thought 
his stable, his horses, and himself disgraced by the 
introduction of a jackass. I recollected the smoke- 



234 Washington Irving. 

house, — an outbuilding appended to all Virginian 
establishments, for the smoking of hams and other 
kinds of meat. So I got the key, put master Jack in, 
locked the door, returned the key to its place, and 
went to bed, intending to release my prisoner at an 
early hour, before any of the family were awake. I 
was so tired, however, by the exertions I had made 
in catching the donkey, that I fell into a sound 
sleep, and the morning broke without my waking. 

"Not so with dame Barbara, the housekeeper. 
As usual, to use her own phrase, ' she was up before 
the crow put his shoes on,' and bustled about to 
get things in order for breakfast. Her first resort 
was to the smoke-house. Scarce had she opened 
the door, when master Jack, tired of his confine- 
ment, and glad to be released from darkness, gave 
a loud bray, and rushed forth. Down dropped old 
Barbara ; the animal trampled over her, and made 
off for the common. Poor Barbara ! She had never 
before seen a donkey ; and having read in the Bible 
that the Devil went about like a roaring lion, seek- 
ing whom he might devour, she took it for granted 
that this was Beelzebub himself. The kitchen was 
soon in a hubbub ; the servants hurried to the spot. 
There lay old Barbara in fits ; as fast as she got 
out of one, the thought of the Devil came over her, 
and she fell into another, for the good soul was 
devoutly superstitious. 

" As ill luck would have it, among those attracted 



Ralph Ringwood. 235 

by the noise, was a little, cursed, fidgety, crabbed 
uncle of mine ; one of those uneasy spirits that can- 
not rest quietly in their beds in the morning, but 
must be up early, to bother the household. He was 
only a kind of half-uncle, after all, for he had mar- 
ried my father's sister ; yet he assumed great 
authority on the strength of this left-handed relation- 
ship, and was a universal intermeddler and family 
pest. This prying little busybody soon ferreted 
out the truth of the story, and discovered, by hook 
and by crook, that I was at the bottom of the affair, 
and had locked up the donkey in the smoke-house. 
He stopped to inquire no further, for he was one of 
those testy curmudgeons with whom unlucky boys 
are always in the wrong. Leaving old Barbara to 
wrestle in imagination with the Devil, he made for 
my bedchamber, where I still lay wrapped in rosy 
slumbers, little dreaming of the mischief I had done, 
and the storm about to break over me. 

" In an instant I was awakened by a shower of 
thwacks, and started up in wild amazement. I de- 
manded the meaning of this attack, but received no 
other reply than that I had murdered the house- 
keeper ; while my uncle continued whacking away 
during my confusion. I seized a poker, and put 
myself on the defensive. I was a stout boy for my 
years, while my uncle was a little wiffet of a man ; 
one that in Kentucky we would not call even an 
' individual ' ; nothing more than a ' remote circum- 



236 Washington Irving. 

stance.' I soon, therefore, brought him to a parley, 
and learned the whole extent of the charge brought 
against me. I confessed to the donkey and the 
smoke-house, but pleaded not guilty of the murder 
of the housekeeper. I soon found out that old 
Barbara was still alive. She continued under the 
doctor's hands, however, for several days ; and 
whenever she had an ill turn, my uncle would seek 
to give me another flogging. I appealed to my 
father, but got no redress. I was considered an 
'unlucky boy,' prone to all kinds of mischief; so that 
prepossessions were against me, in all cases of appeal. 
" I felt stung to the soul at all this. I had been 
beaten, degraded, and treated with slighting when 
I complained. I lost my usual good spirits and 
good-humor ; and, being out of temper with every- 
body, fancied everybody out of temper with me. 
A certain wild, roving spirit of freedom, which I be- 
lieve is as inherent in me as it is in the partridge, 
was brought into sudden activity by the checks and 
restraints I suffered. ' I '11 go from home,' thought 
I, - and shift for myself.' Perhaps this notion was 
quickened by the rage for emigrating to Kentucky 
which was at that time prevalent in Virginia. I 
had heard such stories of the romantic beauties of 
the country, of the abundance of game of all kinds, 
and of the glorious independent life of the hunters 
who ranged its noble forests, and lived by the rifle, 
that I was as much agog to get there as boys who 



Ralph Ringwood. 237 

live in seaports are to launch themselves among the 
wonders and adventures of the ocean. 

" After a time, old Barbara got better in mind 
and body, and matters were explained to her ; and 
she became gradually convinced that it was not the 
Devil she had encountered. When she heard how 
harshly I had been treated on her account, the good 
old soul was extremely grieved, and spoke warmly 
to my father in my behalf. He had himself re- 
marked the change in my behavior, and thought 
punishment might have been carried too far. He 
sought, therefore, to have some conversation with 
me, and to soothe my feelings ; but it was too late. 
I frankly told him the course of mortification that I 
had experienced, and the fixed determination I had 
made to go from home. 

" ' And where do you mean to go ?' 

11 ' To Kentucky.' 

" ( To Kentucky ! Why, you know nobody there.' 

" ' No matter ; I can soon make acquaintances.' 

" ' And what will you do when you get there ? ' 

"' Hunt!' 

" My father gave a long, low whistle, and looked 
in my face with a serio-comic expression. I was not 
far in my teens, and to talk of setting off alone for 
Kentucky, to turn hunter, seemed doubtless the 
idle prattle of a boy. He was little aware of the 
dogged resolution of my character ; and his smile 
of incredulity but fixed me more obstinately in my 



238 Washington Irving. 

purpose. I assured him I was serious in what I 
said, and would certainly set off for Kentucky in the 
spring. 

" Month after month passed away. My father 
now and then adverted slightly to what had passed 
between us ; doubtless for the purpose of sounding 
me. I always expressed the same grave and fixed 
determination. By degrees he spoke to me more 
directly on the subject, endeavoring earnestly but 
kindly to dissuade me. My only reply was, ' I had 
made up my mind.' 

"Accordingly, as soon as the spring had fairly 
opened, I sought him one day in his study, and in- 
formed him I was about to set out for Kentucky, 
and had come to take my leave. He made no objec- 
tion, for he had exhausted persuasion and remon- 
strance, and doubtless thought it best to give way 
to my humor, trusting that a little rough experience 
would soon bring me home again. I asked money 
for my journey. He went to a chest, took out a 
long green silk purse, well filled, and laid it on the 
table. I now asked for a horse and servant. 

" ' A horse ! ' said my father sneeringly, ' why, 
you would not go a mile without racing him, and 
breaking your neck ; and as to a servant, you can- 
not take care of yourself, much less of him.' 

" ' How am I to travel, then ? ' 

" ' Why, I suppose you are man enough to travel 
on foot' 



Ralph Ringwood. 239 

" He spoke jestingly, little thinking I would take 
him at his word ; but I was thoroughly piqued in 
respect to my enterprise ; so I pocketed the purse, 
went to my room, tied up three or four shirts in a 
pocket-handkerchief, put a dirk in my bosom, girt 
a couple of pistols round my waist, and felt like a 
knight-errant armed cap-a-pie, and ready to rove the 
world in quest of adventures. 

" My sister (I had but one) hung round me and 
wept, and entreated me to stay. I felt my heart 
swell in my throat ; but I gulped it back to its place, 
and straightened myself up : I would not suffer 
myself to cry. I at length disengaged myself from 
her, and got to the door. 

" ' When will you come back ? ' cried she. 

"'Never, by heavens!' cried I, 'until I come 
back a member of Congress from Kentucky. I 
am determined to show that I am not the tail-end 
of the family.' 

" Such was my first outset from home. You 
may suppose what a greenhorn I was, and how 
little I knew of the world I was launching into. 

" I do not recollect any incident of importance, 
until I reached the borders of Pennsylvania. I 
had stopped at an inn to get some refreshment ; 
as I was eating in a back-room, I overheard two 
men in the bar-room conjecture who and what I 
could be. One determined, at length, that I was 
a runaway apprentice, and ought to be stopped, to 



240 Washington Irving. 

which the other assented. When I had finished 
my meal, and paid for it, I went out at the back- 
door, lest I should be stopped by my supervisors. 
Scorning, however, to steal off like a culprit, I 
walked round to the front of the house. One of 
the men advanced to the front door. He wore his 
hat on one side, and had a consequential air that 
nettled me. 

" 'Where are you going, youngster?' de- 
manded he. 

"'That's none of your business!' replied I, 
rather pertly. 

"'Yes, but it is though! You have run away 
from home, and must give an account of yourself.' 

" He advanced to seize me, when I drew forth 
a pistol. ' If you advance another step, I '11 shoot 
you !' 

"He sprang back as if he had trodden upon a 
rattle-snake, and his hat fell off in the movement. 

" ' Let him alone !' cried his companion ; 'he's 
a foolish mad-headed boy, and don't know what 
he's about. He'll shoot you, you may rely on it.' 

" He did not need any caution in the matter ; 
he was afraid even to pick up his hat ; so I pushed 
forward on my way without molestation. This 
incident, however, had its effect upon me. I 
became fearful of sleeping in any house at night, 
lest I should be stopped. I took my meals in the 
houses, in the course of the day, but would turn 



Ralph Ringwood. 241 

aside at night into some wood or ravine, make a 
fire and sleep before it. This I considered was 
true hunter's style, and I wished to inure myself 
to it. 

" At length I arrived at Brownsville, leg-weary 
and wayworn, and in a shabby plight, as you may 
suppose, having been 'camping out' for some 
nights past. I applied at some of the inferior 
inns, but could gain no admission. I was regard- 
ed for a moment with a dubious eye, and then in- 
formed they did not receive foot-passengers. At 
last I went boldly to the principal inn. The land- 
lord appeared as unwilling as the rest to receive 
a vagrant boy beneath his roof ; but his wife 
interfered in the midst of his excuses, and, half 
elbowing him aside 

" ' Where are you going, my lad ?' said she. 

"'To Kentucky.' 

" ' What are you going there for ? ' 

"'To hunt.' 

" She looked earnestly at me for a moment or 
two. ' Have you a mother living ? ' said she at 
length. 

"'No, madam ; she has been dead for some 
time.' 

"'I thought so!' cried she, warmly. 'I knew 
if you had a mother living, you would not be here.' 
From that moment the good woman treated me 
with a mother's kindness. 



242 Washington Irving. 

" I remained several days beneath her roof, 
recovering from the fatigue of my journey. 

" While here, I purchased a rifle, and practised 
daily at a mark, to prepare myself for a hunters 
life. When sufficiently recruited in strength I 
took leave of my kind host and hostess, and re- 
sumed my journey. 

"At Wheeling I embarked in a flat-bottomed 
family boat, technically called a broad-horn, a 
prime river conveyance in those days. In this 
ark for two weeks I floated down the Ohio. The 
river was as yet in all its wild beauty. Its loftiest 
trees had not been thinned out. The forest over- 
hung the water's edge, and was occasionally skirt- 
ed by immense canebrakes. Wild animals of all 
kinds abounded. We heard them rushing through 
the thickets and plashing in the water. Deer and 
bears would frequently swim across the river ; 
others would come down to the bank, and gaze 
at the boat as it passed. I was incessantly on the 
alert with my rifle ; but, somehow or other, the 
game was never within shot. Sometimes I got 
a chance to land and try my skill on shore. I shot 
squirrels, and small birds, and even wild turkeys ; 
but though I caught glimpses of deer bounding 
away through the woods, I never could get a fair 
shot at them. 

" In this way we glided in our broad-horn past 
Cincinnati, the ' Queen of the West,' as she is now 



Ralph Ringwood. 243 

called, then a mere group of log=cabins ; and the 
site of the bustling city of Louisville, then desig- 
nated by a solitary house. As I said before, the 
Ohio was as yet a wild river ; all was forest, forest, 
forest ! Near the confluence of Green River with 
the Ohio I landed, bade adieu to the broad-horn, 
and struck for the interior of Kentucky. I had no 
precise plan ; my only idea was to make for one of 
the wildest parts of the country. I had relatives in 
Lexington and other settled places, to whom I 
thought it probable my father would write concern- 
ing me ; so, as I was full of manhood and indepen- 
dence, and resolutely bent on making my way in the 
world without assistance or control, I resolved to 
keep clear of them all. 

" In the course of my first day's trudge I shot a 
wild turkey, and slung it on my back for provisions. 
The forest was open and clear from underwood. I 
saw deer in abundance, but always running, run- 
ning. It seemed to me as if these animals never 
stood still. 

"At length I came to where a gang of half- 
starved wolves were feasting on the carcass of a 
deer which they had run down, and snarling 
and snapping, and fighting like so many dogs. 
They were all so ravenous and intent upon 
their prey that they did not notice me, and I had 
time to make my observations. One, larger and 
fiercer than the rest, seemed to claim the larger 



244 Washington Irving. 

share, and to keep the others in awe. If any one 
came too near him while eating, he would fly off, 
seize and shake him, and then return to his repast. 
1 This,' thought I, ' must be the captain ; if I can 
kill him, I shall defeat the whole army.' I accord- 
ingly took aim, fired, and down dropped the old 
fellow. He might be only shamming dead ; so I 
loaded and put a second ball through him. He 
never budged ; all the rest ran off, and my victory 
was complete. 

11 It would not be easy to describe my triumphant 
feelings on this great achievement. I marched on 
with renovated spirit, regarding myself as absolute 
lord of the forest. As night drew near, I prepared 
for camping. My first care was to collect dry wood, 
and make a roaring fire to cook and sleep by, and 
to frighten off wolves, and bears, and panthers. I 
then began to pluck my turkey for supper. I had 
camped out several times in the early part of my 
expedition ; but that was in comparatively more 
settled and civilized regions, where there were no 
wild animals of consequence in the forest. This 
was my first camping out in the real wilderness, 
and I was soon made sensible of the loneliness and 
wildness of my situation. 

" In a little while a concert of wolves com- 
menced ; there might have been a dozen or two, 
but it seemed to me as if there were thousands. I 
never heard such howling and whining. Having 



Ralph Ringwood. 245 

prepared my turkey, I divided it into two parts, 
thrust two sticks into one of the halves, and planted 
them on end before the fire, — the hunter s mode of 
roasting. The smell of roast meat quickened the 
appetites of the wolves, and their concert became 
truly infernal. They seemed to be all around me, 
but I could only now and then get a glimpse of one 
of them, as he came within the glare of the light. 

" I did not much care for the wolves, who I knew 
to be a cowardly race, but I had heard terrible 
stories of panthers, and began to fear their stealthy 
prowlings in the surrounding darkness. I was 
thirsty, and heard a brook bubbling and tinkling 
along at no great distance, but absolutely dared not 
go there, lest some panther might lie in wait and 
spring upon me. By and by a deer whistled. I 
had never heard one before, and thought it must be 
a panther. I now felt uneasy lest he might climb 
the trees, crawl along the branches overhead, and 
plump down upon me ; so I kept my eyes fixed on the 
branches, until my head ached. I more than once 
thought I saw fiery eyes glaring down from among 
the leaves. At length I thought of my supper, 
and turned to see if my half turkey was cooked. In 
crowding so near the fire, I had pressed the meat 
into the flames, and it was consumed. I had noth- 
ing to do but roast the other half, and take better 
care of it. On that half I made my supper, without 
salt or bread. I was still so possessed with the 



246 Washington Irving. 

dread of panthers, that I could not close my eyes 
all night, but lay watching the trees until daybreak, 
when all my fears were dispelled with the darkness ; 
and as I saw the morning sun sparkling down 
through the branches of the trees, I smiled to think 
how I suffered myself to be dismayed by sounds 
and shadows ; but I was a young woodsman, and a 
stranger in Kentucky. 

" Having breakfasted on the remainder of my 
turkey and slaked my thirst at the bubbling stream, 
without further dread of panthers, I resumed my 
wayfaring with buoyant feelings. I again saw deer, 
but, as usual, running, running ! I tried in vain to 
get a shot at them, and began to fear I never should. 
I was gazing with vexation after a herd in full 
scamper, when I was startled by a human voice. 
Turning round, I saw a man at a short distance 
from me in a hunting-dress. 

" ' What are you after, my lad ? ' cried he. 

" 'Those deer,' replied I pettishly ; ' but it seems 
as if they never stand still.' 

" Upon that he burst out laughing. ' Where 
are you from ? ' said he. 

" ' From Richmond.' 

" l What ! In old Virginny ? ' 

" ' The same.' 

" ' And how on earth did you get here?' 

" ' I landed at Green River from a broad-horn.' 

" ' And where are your companions ?' 



Ralph Ringwood. 247 

" ' I have none.' 

"' What ! — all alone?' 

"'Yes.' 

" ' Where are you going ? ' 

" * Anywhere.' 

" ' And what have you come here for?' 

" ' To hunt' 

" ' Well,' said he, laughingly, ' you '11 make a real 
hunter; there's no mistaking that! Have you 
killed anything ? ' 

" ' Nothing but a turkey ; I can't get within shot 
of a deer ; they are always running.' 

'"Oh, I'll tell you the secret of that. You're 
always pushing forward, and starting the deer at 
a distance, and gazing at those that are scampering ; 
but you must step as slow and silent and cautious 
as a cat, and keep your eyes close around you, and 
lurk from tree to tree, if you wish to get a chance 
at deer. But come, go home with me. My name 
is Bill Smithers ; I live not far off; stay with me a 
little while, and I '11 teach you how to hunt' 

" I gladly accepted the invitation of honest Bill 
Smithers. We soon reached his habitation, a mere 
log-hut, with a square hole for a window, and a 
chimney made of sticks and clay. Here he lived, 
with a wife and child. He had 'girdled ' the trees 
for an acre or two around, preparatory to clearing 
a space for corn and potatoes. In the meantime he 
maintained his family entirely by his rifle, and I 



248 Washington Irving. 

soon found him to be a first-rate huntsman. Under 
his tutelage I received my first effective lessons in 
1 woodcraft/ 

" The more I knew of a hunter's life, the more I 
relished it. The country, too, which had been the 
promised land of my boyhood, did not, like most 
promised lands, disappoint me. No wilderness 
could be more beautiful than this part of Kentucky 
in those times. The forests were open and spacious, 
with noble trees, some of which looked as if they 
had stood for centuries. There were beautiful prai- 
ries,too, diversified with groves and clumps of trees, 
which looked like vast parks, and in which you 
could see the deer running, at a great distance. 
In the proper season, these prairies would be cov- 
ered in many places with wild strawberries, where 
your horse's hoofs would be dyed to the fetlock. 
I thought there could not be another place in the 
world equal to Kentucky ;> — and I think so still. 

" After I had passed ten or twelve days with Bill 
Smithers, I thought it time to shift my quarters, 
for his house was scarce large enough for his own 
family, and I had no idea of being an encumbrance 
to any one. I accordingly made up my bundle, 
shouldered my rifle, took a friendly leave of Smith- 
ers and his wife, and set out in quest of a Nimrod 
of the wilderness, one John Miller, who lived alone, 
nearly forty miles off, and who I hoped would be 
well pleased to have a hunting companion. 



Ralph Ringwood. 249 

" I soon found out that one of the most impor- 
tant items in woodcraft, in a new country, was the 
skill to find one's way in the wilderness. There 
were no regular roads in the forests, but they were 
cut up and perplexed by paths leading in all direc- 
tions. Some of these were made by the cattle of 
the settlers, and were called 'stock-tracks/ but 
others had been made by the immense droves of 
buffaloes which roamed about the country from 
the flood until recent times. These were called 
buffalo-tracks, and traversed Kentucky from end 
to end, like highways. Traces of them may still 
be seen in uncultivated parts, or deeply worn in 
the rocks where they crossed the mountains. I 
was a young woodsman, and sorely puzzled to 
distinguish one kind of track from the other, or 
to make out my course through this tangled 
labyrinth. While thus perplexed, I heard a distant 
roaring and rushing sound ; a gloom stole over 
the forest. On looking up, when I could catch 
a stray glimpse of the sky, I beheld the clouds 
rolled up like balls, the lower part as black as ink. 
There was now and then an explosion, like a burst 
of cannonry afar off, and the crash of a falling 
tree. I had heard of hurricanes in the woods, 
and surmised that one was at hand. It soon came 
crashing its way, the forest writhing, and twisting, 
and groaning before it. The hurricane did not 
extend far on either side, but in a manner ploughed 



250 Washington Irving. 

a furrow through the woodland, snapping off or 
uprooting trees that had stood for centuries, and 
filling the air with whirling branches. I was 
directly in its course, and took my stand behind 
an immense poplar, six feet in diameter. It bore 
for a time the full fury of the blast, but at length 
began to yield. Seeing it falling, I scrambled 
nimbly round the trunk like a squirrel. Down it 
went, bearing down another tree with it. I crept 
under the trunk as a shelter, and was protected 
from other trees which fell around me, but was 
sore all over, from the twigs and branches driven 
against me by the blast. 

"This was the only incident of consequence 
that occurred on my way to John Miller's, where 
I arrived on the following day, and was received 
by the veteran with the rough kindness of a back- 
woodsman. He was a gray-haired man, hardy 
and weather-beaten, with a blue wart, like a great 
bead, over one eye, whence he was nicknamed by 
the hunters, ' Blue-bead Miller.' He had been in 
these parts from the earliest settlements, and had 
signalized himself in the hard conflicts with the 
Indians, which gained Kentucky the appellation 
of the 'Bloody Ground.' In one of these fights 
he had had an arm broken ; in another he had 
narrowly escaped, when hotly pursued, by jump- 
ing from a precipice thirty feet high into a river. 

" Miller willingly received me into his house as 




" HE WAS SCRAMBLING UP A TREE, WHEN I SHOT HIM THROUGH THE BREAST. 



Ralph Ringwood. 251 

an inmate, and seemed pleased with the idea of 
making a hunter of me. His dwelling was a small 
log-house, with a loft or garret of boards, so that 
there was ample room for both of us. Under his 
instruction, I soon made a tolerable proficiency 
in hunting. My first exploit of any consequence 
was killing a bear. I was hunting in company 
with two brothers, when we came upon the track 
of Bruin, in a wood where there was an under- 
growth of canes and grape-vines. He was scram- 
bling up a tree, when I shot him through the breast ; 
he fell to the ground, and lay motionless. The 
brothers sent in their dog, who seized the bear 
by the throat. Bruin raised one arm, and gave 
the dog a hug that crushed his ribs. One yell, 
and all was over. I don't know which was first 
dead, the dog or the bear. The two brothers sat 
down and cried like children over their unfortunate 
dog. Yet they were mere rough huntsmen, almost 
as wild and untamable as Indians ; but they were 
fine fellows. 

" By degrees I became known, and somewhat of 
a favorite among the hunters of the neighborhood ; 
that is to say, men who lived within a circle of 
thirty or forty miles, and came occasionally to see 
John Miller, who was a patriarch among them. 
They lived widely apart, in log-huts and wigwams, 
almost with the simplicity of Indians, and wellnigh 
as destitute of the comforts and inventions of civil- 



252 Washington Irving. 

ized life. They seldom saw each other ; weeks, and 
even months would elapse, without their visiting. 
When they did meet, it was very much after the 
manner of Indians ; loitering about all day, without 
having much to say, but becoming communicative 
as evening advanced, and sitting up half the night 
before the fire, telling hunting-stories, and terrible 
tales of the fights of the Bloody Ground. 

" Sometimes several would join in a distant hunt- 
ing expedition, or rather campaign. Expeditions 
of this kind lasted from November until April, 
during which we laid up our stock of summer pro- 
visions. We shifted our hunting-camps from place 
to place, according as we found the game. They 
were generally pitched near a run of water, and 
close by a canebrake, to screen us from the wind. 
One side of our lodge was open towards the fire. 
Our horses were hoppled and turned loose in the 
canebrakes, with bells round their necks. One of 
the party stayed at home to watch the camp, pre- 
pare the meals, and keep off the wolves ; the others 
hunted. When a hunter killed a deer at a distance 
from the camp, he would open it and take out the 
entrails ; then, climbing a sapling, he would bend 
it down, tie the deer to the top, and let it spring up 
again, so as to suspend the carcass out of reach of 
the wolves. At night he would return to the camp, 
and give an account of his luck. The next morn- 
ing early he would get a horse out of the canebrake 



Ralph Ringwood. 253 

and bring home his game. That day he would stay 
at home to cut up the carcass, while the others 
hunted. 

" Our days were thus spent in silent and lonely 
occupations. It was only at night that we would 
gather together before the fire, and be sociable. I 
was a novice, and used to listen with open eyes and 
ears to the strange and wild stories told by the 
old hunters, and believed everything I heard. 
Some of their stories bordered upon the supernat- 
ural. They believed that their rifles might be 
spell-bound, so as not to be able to kill a buffalo, 
even at arm's length. This superstition they had 
derived from the Indians, who often think the white 
hunters have laid a spell upon their rifles. Miller 
partook of this superstition, and used to tell of his 
rifles having a spell upon it ; but it often seemed 
to me to be a shuffling way of accounting for a bad 
shot. If a hunter grossly missed his aim, he would 
ask, * Who shot last with his rifle ? ' — and hint that 
he must have charmed it. The sure mode to dis- 
enchant the gun was to shoot a silver bullet out 
of it. 

"By the opening of spring we would generally 
have quantities of bear's meat and venison salted, 
dried, and smoked, and numerous packs of skins. 
We would then make the best of our way home 
from our distant hunting-grounds, transporting our 
spoils, sometimes in canoes along the rivers, some- 



254 Washington Irving, 

times on horseback over land, and our return 
would often be celebrated by feasting and dancing, 
in true backwoods style. I have given you some 
idea of our hunting ; let me now give you a sketch 
of our frolicking. 

" It was on our return from a winter's hunting 
in the neighborhood of Green River, when we re= 
ceived notice that there was to be a grand frolic 
at Bob Mosely's, to greet the hunters. This Bob 
Mosely was a prime fellow throughout the country. 
He was an indifferent hunter, it is true, and rather 
lazy, to boot ; but then he could play the fiddle, 
and that was enough to make him of consequence. 
There was no other man within a hundred miles 
that could play the fiddle, so there was no having a 
regular frolic without Bob Mosely. The hunters, 
therefore, were always ready to give him a share of 
their game in exchange for his music, and Bob was 
always ready to get up a carousal whenever there 
was a party returning from a hunting expedition. 
The present frolic was to take place at Bob Mosely's 
own house, which was on the Pigeon-Roost Fork of 
the Muddy, which is a branch of Rough Creek, 
which is a branch of Green River. 

" Everybody was agog for the revel at Bob 
Mosely's ; and as all the fashion of the neighbor- 
hood was to be there, I thought I must brush up 
for the occasion. My leathern hunting-dress, which 
was the only one I had, was somewhat the worse 



Ralph Ringwood. 255 

for wear, it is true, and considerably japanned with 
blood and grease ; but I was up to hunting expe- 
dients. Getting into a periogue, I paddled off to 
a part of the Green River where there was sand 
and clay, that might serve for soap ; then, taking 
off my dress, I scrubbed and scoured it, until I 
thought it looked very well. I then put it on the 
end of a stick, and hung it out of the periogue to 
dry, while I stretched myself very comfortably on 
the green bank of the river. Unluckily a flaw 
struck the periogue, and tipped over the stick ; 
down went my dress to the bottom of the river, and 
I never saw it more. Here was I, left almost in a 
state of nature. I managed to make a kind of 
Robinson Crusoe garb of undressed skins, with the 
hair on, which enabled me to get home with de- 
cency ; but my dream of gayety and fashion was at 
an end ; for how could I think of figuring in high 
life at the Pigeon-Roost, equipped like a mere 
Orson ? 

" Old Miller, who really began to take some pride 
in me, was confounded when he understood that I 
did not intend to go to Bob Mosely's ; but when I 
told him my misfortune, and that I had no dress, 
' By the powers,' cried he, ' but you shall go, and 
you shall be the best dressed and the best mounted 
lad there ! ' 

"He immediately set to work to cut out and make 
up a hunting-shirt, of dressed deer-skin, gayly 



256 Washington Irving. 

fringed at the shoulders, and leggins of the same, 
fringed from hip to heel. He then made me a rak- 
ish raccoon-cap, with a flaunting tail to it, mounted 
me on his best horse ; and I may say, without van- 
ity, that I was one of the smartest fellows that fig- 
ured on that occasion at the Pigeon-Roost Fork of 
the Muddy. 

" It was no small occasion, either, let me tell you. 
Bob Mosely's house was a tolerably large bark 
shanty, with a clapboard roof ; and there were as- 
sembled all the young hunters and pretty girls of 
the country for many a mile round. The young 
men were in their best hunting-dresses, but not one 
could compare with mine ; and my raccoon-cap, 
with its flowing tail, was the admiration of every- 
body. The girls were mostly in doe-skin dresses ; 
for there was no spinning and weaving as yet in the 
woods, nor any need of it. I never saw girls that 
seemed to me better dressed, and I was somewhat 
of a judge, having seen fashions at Richmond. We 
had a hearty dinner, and a merry one ; for there 
was Jemmy Kiel, famous for raccoon-hunting, and 
Bob Tarleton, and Wesley Pigman, and Joe Tay- 
lor, and several other prime fellows for a frolic, that 
made all ring again, and laughed that you might 
have heard them a mile. 

" After dinner we began dancing, and were hard 
at it when, about three o'clock in the afternoon, 
there was a new arrival — the two daughters of old 



Ralph Ringwood. 257 

Simon Schultz ; two young ladies that affected 
fashion and late hours. . Their arrival had nearly 
put an end to all our merriment. I must go a little 
round about in my story to explain to you how that 
happened. 

"As old Schultz, the father, was one day looking 
in the canebrakes for his cattle, he came upon the 
track of horses. He knew they were none of his, 
and that none of his neighbors had horses about 
that place. They must be stray horses, or must 
belong to some traveller who had lost his way, as 
the track led nowhere. He accordingly followed 
it up, until he came to an unlucky peddler, with 
two or three pack-horses, who had been bewildered 
among the cattle-tracks, and had wandered for two 
or three days among woods and canebrakes, until 
he was almost famished. 

" Old Schultz brought him to his house, fed him 
on venison, bear's meat, and hominy, and at the 
end of a week put him in prime condition. The 
peddler could not sufficiently express his thankful- 
ness, and when about to depart, inquired what he 
had to pay. Old Schultz stepped back with sur- 
prise. ' Stranger,' said he, ' you have been wel- 
come under my roof. I 've given you nothing but 
wild meat and hominy, because I had no better, 
but have been glad of your company. You are 
welcome to stay as long as you please ; but, by 
Zounds ! if any one offers to pay Simon Schultz for 



258 Washington Irving, 

food, he affronts him ! ' So saying, he walked out 
in a huff. 

" The peddler admired the hospitality of his host, 
but could not reconcile it to his conscience to go 
away without making some recompense. There 
were honest Simon's two daughters, two strapping, 
red-haired girls. He opened his packs and dis- 
played riches before them of which they had no 
conception ; for in those days there were no coun- 
try stores in those parts, with their artificial finery 
and trinketry ; and this was the first peddler that 
had wandered into that part of the wilderness. 
The girls were for a time completely dazzled, and 
knew not what to choose ; but what caught their 
eyes most were two looking-glasses, about the size 
of a dollar, set in gilt tin. They had never seen 
the like before, having used no other mirror than a 
pail of water. The peddler presented them these 
jewels without the least hesitation ; nay, he gallantly 
hung them round their necks by red ribbons, almost 
as fine as the glasses themselves. This done, he 
took his departure, leaving them as much astonished 
as two princesses in a fairy tale, that have received 
a magic gift from an enchanter. 

" It was with these looking-glasses hung round 
their necks as lockets, by red ribbons, that old 
Schultz's daughters made their appearance at three 
o'clock in the afternoon, at the frolic at Bob Mose- 
ley's, on the Pigeon-Roost Fork of the Muddy. 



Ralph Ringwood. 259 

" By the powers, but it was an event ! Such a thing 
had never before been seen in Kentucky. Bob 
Tarleton, a strapping fellow, with a head like a 
chestnut-burr, and a look like a boar in an apple-or- 
chard, stepped up, caught hold of the looking-glass 
of one of the girls, and gazing at it for a moment, 
cried out, 'Joe Taylor, come here! come here! 
I '11 be darn'd if Patty Schultz ain't got a locket that 
you can see your face in, as clear as in a spring of 
water ! ' 

"In a twinkling all the young hunters gathered 
round old Schultz's daughters. I, who knew what 
looking-glasses were, did not budge. Some of the 
girls who sat near me were excessively mortified at 
finding themselves thus deserted. I heard Peggy 
Pugh say to Sally Pigman, * Goodness knows it 's 
well Schultz's daughters is got them things round 
their necks, for it 's the first time the young men 
crowded round them ! ' 

" I saw immediately the danger of the case. We 
were a small community, and could not afford to 
be split up by feuds. So I stepped up to the girls, 
and whispered to them : ' Polly,' said I, ' those 
lockets are powerful fine, and become you amaz- 
ingly, but you don't consider that the country is not 
advanced enough in these parts for such things. 
You and I understand these matters, but these peo- 
ple don't. Fine things like these may do very well 
in the old settlements, but they won't answer 



260 Washington Irving. 

at the Pigeon-Roost Fork of the Muddy. You 
had better lay them aside for the present, or we 
shall have no peace/ 

" Polly and her sister luckily saw their error ; 
they took off the lockets, laid them aside, and 
harmony was restored ; otherwise, I verily believe 
there would have been an end of our community. 
Indeed, notwithstanding the great sacrifice they 
made on this occasion, I do not think old Schultz's 
daughters were ever much liked afterwards among 
the young women. 

" This was the first time that looking-glasses were 
ever seen in the Green River part of Kentucky. 

" I had now lived some time with old Miller, and 
had become a tolerably expert hunter. Game, how- 
ever, began to grow scarce. The buffalo had gath- 
ered together, as if by universal understanding, 
and had crossed the Mississippi, never to return. 
Strangers kept pouring into the country, clearing 
away the forests, and building in all directions. 
The hunters began to grow restive. Jemmy Kiel, 
the same of whom I have already spoken for his 
skill in raccoon catching, came to me one day. ' I 
can't stand this any longer,' said he, ' we 're getting 
too thick here. Simon Schultz crowds me so that 
I have no comfort of my life.' 

" < Why, how you talk ! ' said I ; ' Simon Schultz 
lives twelve miles off.' 

" 'No matter ; his cattle run with mine, and I 've 



Ralph Ringwood. 261 

no idea of living where another man's cattle can run 
with mine. That 's too close neighborhood ; I 
want elbow room. This country, too, is growing 
too poor to live in ; there 's no game ; so two or 
three of us have made up our minds to follow the 
buffalo to the Missouri, and we should like to 
have you of the party.' Other hunters of my 
acquaintance talked in the same manner. This 
set me thinking ; but the more I thought, the 
more I was perplexed. I had no one to advise 
with ; old Miller and his associates knew of but 
one mode of life, and I had no experience in any 
other, but I had a wider scope of thought When 
out hunting alone, I used to forget the sport, and 
sit for hours together on the trunk of a tree, with 
rifle in hand, buried in thought, and debating with 
myself : ' Shall I go with Jemmy Kiel and his 
company, or shall I remain here ? If I remain 
here, there will soon be nothing left to hunt. But 
am I to be a hunter all my life ? Have not I 
something more in me than to be carrying a rifle 
on my shoulder, day after day, and dodging about 
after bears, and deer, and other brute beasts?' 
My vanity told me I had ; and I called to mind 
my boyish boast to my sister, that I would never 
return home until I returned a member of Con- 
gress from Kentucky ; but was this the way to 
fit myself for such a station ? 

"Various plans passed through my mind, but 



262 Washington Irving. 

they were abandoned almost as soon as formed. 
At length I determined on becoming a lawyer. 
True it is, I knew almost nothing. I had left 
school before I had learnt beyond the ' Rule of 
Three.' ' Never mind,' said I to myself, resolutely, 
1 1 am a terrible fellow for hanging on to anything 
when I 've once made up my mind ; and if a man 
has but ordinary capacity, and will set to work 
with heart and soul, and stick to it, he can do 
almost anything.' With this maxim, which has 
been pretty much my main stay throughout life, 
I fortified myself in my determination to attempt 
the law. But how was I to set about it ? I must 
quit this forest life, and go to one or other of the 
towns, where I might be able to study and to attend 
the courts. This, too, required funds. I examined 
into the state of my finances. The purse given 
me by my father had remained untouched, in the 
bottom of an old chest up in the loft, for money 
was scarcely needed in these parts. I had bargained 
away the skins acquired in hunting, for a horse 
and various other matters, on which, in case of 
need, I could raise funds. I therefore thought I 
could make shift to maintain myself until I was 
fitted for the bar. 

" I informed my worthy host and patron, old 
Miller, of my plan. He shook his head at my 
turning my back upon the woods when I was in 
a fair way of making a first-rate hunter ; but he 



Ralph Ringwood. 263 

made no effort to dissuade me. I accordingly set 
off in September, on horseback, intending to visit 
Lexington, Frankfort, and other of the principal 
towns, in search of a favorable place to prosecute 
my studies. My choice was made sooner than 
I expected. I had put up one night at Bardstown, 
and found, on inquiry, that I could get comfort- 
able board and accommodation in a private family 
for a dollar and a half a week. I liked the place, 
and resolved to look no farther. So the next 
morning I prepared to turn my face homeward, 
and take my final leave of forest life. 

" I had taken my breakfast, and was waiting for 
my horse, when, in pacing up and down the piazza, 
I saw a young girl seated near a window, evidently 
a visitor. She was very pretty, with auburn hair 
and blue eyes, and was dressed in white. I had 
seen nothing of the kind since I had left Richmond, 
and at that time I was too much of a boy to be much 
struck by female charms. She was so delicate and 
dainty-looking, so different from the hale, buxom, 
brown girls of the woods ; and then her white 
dress ! — it was perfectly dazzling ! Never was poor 
youth more taken by surprise and suddenly be- 
witched. My heart yearned to know her ; but how 
was I to accost her ? I had grown wild in the woods, 
and had none of the habitudes of polite life. Had 
she been like Peggy Pugh, or Sally Pigman, or any 
other of my leathern-dressed belles of the Pigeon- 



264 Washington Irving. 

Roost, I should have approached her without dread ; 
nay, had she been as fair as Schultz's daughters, 
with their looking-glass lockets, I should not have 
hesitated ; but that white dress and those auburn 
ringlets, and blue eyes, and delicate looks, quite 
daunted while they fascinated me. I don't know 
what put it into my head, but I thought, all at 
once, that I would kiss her ! It would take a long 
acquaintance to arrive at such a boon, but I might 
seize upon it by sheer robbery. Nobody knew me 
here. I would just step in, snatch a kiss, mount 
my horse, and ride off. She would not be the 
worse for it ; and that kiss — oh ! I should die if I 
did not get it ! 

" I gave no time for the thought to cool, but en- 
tered the house, and stepped lightly into the room. 
She was seated with her back to the door, looking 
out at the window, and did not hear my approach. 
I tapped her chair, and as she turned and looked 
up, I snatched as sweet a kiss as ever was stolen, 
and vanished in a twinkling. The next moment I 
was on horseback, galloping homeward, my very 
ears tingling at what I had done. 

"On my return home, I sold my horse and 
turned everything to cash, and found, with the re- 
mains of the paternal purse, that I had nearly four 
hundred dollars,— a little capital which I resolved to 
manage with the strictest economy. 

" It was hard parting with old Miller, who had 



Ralph Ringwood. 265 

been like a father to me ; it cost me, too, some- 
thing of a struggle to give up the free, independent, 
wild-wood life I had hitherto led ; but I had marked 
out my course, and have never been one to flinch or 
turn back. 

" I footed it sturdily to Bardstown, took posses- 
sion of the quarters for which I had bargained, shut 
myself up, and set to work with might and main to 
study. But what a task I had before me ! I had 
everything to learn ; not merely law, but all the 
elementary branches of knowledge. I read and 
read for sixteen hours out of the four-and-twenty, 
but the more I read the more I became aware of 
my own ignorance, and shed bitter tears over my 
deficiency. It seemed as if the wilderness of 
knowledge expanded and grew more perplexed as I 
advanced. Every height gained only revealed a 
wider region to be traversed, and nearly filled me 
with despair. I grew moody, silent, and unsocial, 
but studied on doggedly and incessantly. The 
only person with whom I held any conversation, 
was the worthy man in whose house I was quar- 
tered. He was honest and well-meaning, but per- 
fectly ignorant, and I believe would have liked me 
much better if I had not been so much addicted to 
reading. He considered all books filled with lies 
and impositions, and seldom could look into one 
without finding something to rouse his spleen. 
Nothing put him into a greater passion than the 



266 Washington Irving. 

assertion that the world turned on its own axis 
every four-and-twenty hours. He swore it was an 
outrage upon common sense. ' Why, if it did,' 
said he, * there would not be a drop of water in the 
well by morning, and all the milk and cream in the 
dairy would be turned topsy-turvy ! ' And then to 
talk of the earth going round the sun ! ' How do 
they know it ? I 've seen the sun rise every morn- 
ing and set every evening for more than thirty 
years. They must not talk to me about the earth's 
going round the sun ! ' 

" At another time he was in a perfect fret at be- 
ing told the distance between the sun and moon. 
'How can any one tell the distance?' cried he. 
' Who surveyed it ? who carried the chain ? By 
Jupiter ! they only talk this way before me to annoy 
me. But then there 's some people of sense who 
give in to this cursed humbug ! There 's Judge 
Broadnax, now, one of the best lawyers we have ; 
isn't it surprising he should believe in such stuff? 
Why, sir, the other day I heard him talk of the dis- 
tance from a star he called Mars to the sun ! He 
must have got it out of one or other of those con- 
founded books he 's so fond of reading ; a book 
some impudent fellow has written, who knew no- 
body could swear the distance was more or less.' 

" For my own part, feeling my own deficiency in 
scientific lore, I never ventured to unsettle his con- 



Ralph RingwoocL 267 

viction that the sun made his daily circuit round the 
earth ; and for aught I said to the contrary, he lived 
and died in that belief. 

" I had been about a year at Bardstown, living 
thus studiously and reclusely, when, as I was one 
day walking the street, I met two young girls, in 
one of whom I immediately recalled the little beauty 
whom I had kissed so impudently. She blushed up 
to the eyes, and so did I ; but we both passed on 
without further sign of recognition. This second 
glimpse of her, however, caused an odd fluttering 
about my heart. I could not get her out of my 
thoughts for days. She quite interfered with my 
studies. I tried to think of her as a mere child, but 
it would not do ; she had improved in beauty, and 
was tending toward womanhood : and then I my- 
self was little better than a stripling. However, I 
did not attempt to seek after her, or even to find 
out who she was, but returned doggedly to my 
books. By degrees she faded from my thoughts, 
or if she did cross them occasionally, it was only to 
increase my despondency, for I feared that, with all 
my exertions, I should never be able to fit myself 
for the bar, or enable myself to support a wife. 

" One cold stormy evening I was seated, in 
dumpish mood, in the bar-room of the inn, look- 
ing into the fire and turning over uncomfortable 
thoughts, when I was accosted by some one who 



268 Washington Irving. 

had entered the room without my perceiving it 
I looked up, and saw before me a tall, and, as I 
thought, pompous-looking man, arrayed in small- 
clothes and knee-buckles, with powdered head, and 
shoes nicely blacked and polished ; a style of dress 
unparalleled in those days in that rough country. 
I took a pique against him from the very portliness 
of his appearance and stateliness of his manner, and 
bristled up as he accosted me. He demanded if my 
name was not Ringwood. 

" I was startled, for I supposed myself perfectly 
incog. ; but I answered in the affirmative. 

" * Your family, I believe, lives in Richmond.' 

" My gorge began to rise. 'Yes, sir/ replied I, 
sulkily, ■ my family does live in Richmond/ 

" ' And what, may I ask, has brought you into 
this part of the country ? ' 

" ' Zounds, sir ! ' cried I, starting on my feet, 
'what business is it of yours? How dare you to 
question me in this manner ? ' 

" The entrance of some persons prevented a reply ; 
but I walked up and down the bar-room, fuming 
with conscious independence and insulted dignity, 
while the pompous-looking personage, who had thus 
trespassed upon my spleen, retired without proffer- 
ing another word. 

" The next day, while seated in my room, some 
one tapped at the door, and, on being bid to enter, 
the stranger in the powdered head, small-clothes, 



Ralph Ringwood. 269 

and shining shoes and buckles, walked in with cere- 
monious courtesy. 

" My boyish pride was again in arms, but he sub- 
dued me. He was formal, but kind and friendly. 
He knew my family and understood my situation, 
and the dogged struggle I was making. A little 
conversation, when my jealous pride was once put 
to rest, drew everything from me. He was a 
lawyer of experience and of extensive practice, and 
offered at once to take me with him and direct my 
studies. The offer was too advantageous and grati- 
fying not to be immediately accepted. From that 
time I began to look up. I was put into a proper 
track, and was enabled to study to a proper pur- 
pose. I made acquaintance, too, with some of the 
young men of the place who were in the same pur- 
suit, and was encouraged at finding that I could 
1 hold my own ' in argument with them. We in- 
stituted a debating-club, in which I soon became 
prominent and popular. Men of talents, engaged 
in other pursuits, joined it, and this diversified our 
subjects and put me on various tracks of inquiry. 
Ladies, too, attended some of our discussions, and 
this gave them a polite tone and had an influence on 
the manners of the debaters. My legal patron also 
may have had a favorable effect in correcting any 
roughness contracted in my hunter's life. He was 
calculated to bend me in an opposite direction, for he 
was of the old school ; quoted ' Chesterfield ' on all 



270 Washington Irving, 

occasions, and talked of Sir Charles Grandison, 
who was his beau ideal. It was Sir Charles Grandi- 
son, however, Kentuckyized. 

" I had always been fond of female society. My 
experience, however, had hitherto been among the 
rough daughters of the backwoodsmen, and I felt 
an awe of young ladies in ' store clothes,' delicately 
brought up. Two or three of the married ladies of 
Bardstown, who had heard me at the debating-club, 
determined that I was a genius, and undertook to 
bring me out. I believe I really improved under 
their hands, became quiet where I had been shy or 
sulky, and easy where I had been impudent. 

" I called to take tea one evening with one of 
these ladies, when, to my surprise, and somewhat 
to my confusion, I found with her the identical 
blue-eyed little beauty whom I had so audaciously 
kissed, I was formally introduced to her, but 
neither of us betrayed any sign of previous ac- 
quaintance, except by blushing to the eyes. While 
tea was getting ready, the lady of the house went 
out of the room to give some directions, and left us 
alone. 

" Heavens and earth, what a situation ! I would 
have given all the pittance I was worth, to have 
been in the deepest dell of the forest. I felt the 
necessity of saying something in excuse of my 
former rudeness, but I could not conjure up an 
idea, nor utter a word. Every moment matters 



Ralph Ringwood. 271 

were growing worse. I felt at one time tempted to 
do as I had done when I robbed her of the kiss,— 
bolt from the room, and take to flight ; but I was 
chained to the spot, for I really longed to gain her 
good-will. 

" At length I plucked up courage, on seeing that 
she was equally confused with myself, and walking 
desperately up to her, I exclaimed : 

" ' I have been trying to muster up something to 
say to you, but I cannot. I feel that I am in a 
horrible scrape. Do have pity on me, and help me 
out of it ! ' 

" A smile dimpled about her mouth, and played 
among the blushes of her cheek. She looked up 
with a shy but arch glance of the eye, that ex- 
pressed a volume of comic recollection ; we both 
broke into a laugh, and from that moment all went 
on well. 

" A few evenings afterward I met her at a dance, 
and prosecuted the acquaintance. I soon became 
deeply attached to her, paid my court regularly, and 
before I was nineteen years of age had engaged 
myself to marry her. I spoke to her mother, a 
widow lady, to ask her consent. She seemed to 
demur ; upon which, with my customary haste, I 
told her there would be no use in opposing the 
match, for if her daughter chose to have me, I 
would take her, in defiance of her family and the 
whole world. 



272 Washington Irving. 

" She laughed, and told me I need not give my- 
self any uneasiness ; there would be no unreason- 
able opposition. She knew my family, and all 
about me. The only obstacle was, that I had no 
means of supporting a wife, and she had nothing 
to give with her daughter. 

"No matter ; at that moment everything was 
bright before me. I was in one of my sanguine 
moods. I feared nothing, doubted nothing. So 
it was agreed that I should prosecute my studies, 
obtain a license, and as soon as I should be fairly 
launched in business, we would be married. 

" I now prosecuted my studies with redoubled 
ardor, and was up to my ears in law, when I 
received a letter from my father, who had heard 
of me and my whereabouts. He applauded the 
course I had taken, but advised me to lay a founda- 
tion of general knowledge, and offered to defray 
my expenses if I would go to college. I felt the 
want of a general education, and was staggered 
with this offer. It militated somewhat against the 
self-dependent course I had so proudly, or rather 
conceitedly, marked out for myself, but it would 
enable me to enter more advantageously upon my 
legal career. I talked over the matter with the 
lovely girl to whom I was engaged. She sided in 
opinion with my father, and talked so disinterest- 
edly, yet tenderly, that if possible, I loved her 
more than ever. I reluctantly, therefore, agreed 



Ralph Rirjgwood. 273 

to go to college for a couple of years, though it 
must necessarily postpone our union. 

"Scarcely had I formed this resolution, when 
her mother was taken ill, and died, leaving her 
without a protector. This again altered all my 
plans. I felt as if I could protect her. I gave 
up all idea of collegiate studies ; persuaded myself 
that by dint of industry and application I might 
overcome the deficiencies of education, and re- 
solved to take out a license as soon as possible. 

" That very autumn I was admitted to the bar, 
and within a month afterward was married. We 
were a young couple,— she not much above six- 
teen, I not quite twenty,— and both almost with- 
out a dollar in the world. The establishment 
which we set up was suited to our circumstances : 
a log-house, with two small rooms ; a bed, a 
table, a half-dozen chairs, a half-dozen knives and 
forks, a half-dozen spoons ; everything by half- 
dozens ; a little Delft ware ; everything in a small 
way : we were so poor, but then so happy ! 

"We had not been married many days when 
court was held at a country town, about twenty- 
five miles distant. It was necessary for me to go 
there, and put myself in the way of business ; but 
how was I to go ? I had expended all my means 
on our establishment ; and then, it was hard part- 
ing with my wife so soon after marriage. How- 
ever, go I must. Money must be made, or we 
18 



274 Washington Irving. 

should soon have the wolf at the door. I accord- 
ingly borrowed a horse, and borrowed a little cash, 
and rode off from my door, leaving my wife stand- 
ing at it, and waving her hand after me. Her last 
look, so sweet and beaming, went to my heart. 
I felt as if I could go through fire and water for her. 

"I arrived at the country town on a cool Oc- 
tober evening. The inn was crowded, for the 
court was to commence on the following day. I 
knew no one, and wondered how I, a stranger and 
a mere youngster, was to make my way in such 
a crowd, and to get business. The public room 
was thronged with the idlers of the country, who 
gather together on such occasions. There was 
some drinking going forward, with much noise, 
and a little altercation. Just as I entered the 
room, I saw a rough bully of a fellow, who was 
partly intoxicated, strike an old man. He came 
swaggering by me, and elbowed me as he passed. 
I immediately knocked him down, and kicked him 
into the street. I needed no better introduction. 
In a moment I had a dozen rough shakes of the 
hand and invitations to drink, and found myself 
quite a personage in this rough assembly. 

"The next morning the court opened. I took 
my seat among the lawyers, but felt as a mere spec- 
tator, not having a suit in progress or prospect, nor 
having any idea where business was to come from. 
In the course of the morning, a man was put at the 



Ralph Ringwood. 275 

bar charged with passing counterfeit money, and 
was asked if he was ready for trial. He answered 
in the negative. He had been confined in a place 
where there were no lawyers, and had not had an 
opportunity of consulting any. He was told to 
choose counsel from the lawyers present, and to be 
ready for trial on the following day. He looked 
round the court, and selected me. I was thunder- 
struck. I could not tell why he should make such 
a choice. I, a beardless youngster, unpractised at 
the bar, perfectly unknown. I felt diffident, yet 
delighted, and could have hugged the rascal. 

" Before leaving the court, he gave me one hun- 
dred dollars in a bag, as a retaining fee. I could 
scarcely believe my senses : it seemed like a dream. 
The heaviness of the fee spoke but lightly in favor 
of his innocence, but that was no affair of mine. 
I was to be advocate, not judge, nor jury. I fol- 
lowed him to jail, and learnedfrom him all the particu- 
lars of his case : thence I went to the clerk's office, 
and took minutes of the indictment. I then exam- 
ined the law on the subject, and prepared my brief 
in my room. All this occupied me until midnight, 
when I went to bed, and tried to sleep. It was all 
in vain. Never in my life was I more wide awake. 
A host of thoughts and fancies kept rushing through 
my mind ; the shower of gold that had so unexpect- 
edly fallen into my lap ; the idea of my poor little wife 
at home, that I was to astonish with my good for- 



276 Washington Irving. 

tune ! But then the awful responsibility I had un- 
dertaken !— to speak for the first time in a strange 
court ; the expectations the culprit had evidently 
formed of my talents ; all these, and a crowd of 
similar notions, kept whirling through my mind. 
I tossed about all night, fearing the morning would 
find me exhausted and incompetent ; in a word, the 
day dawned on me, a miserable fellow ! 

" I got up feverish and nervous. I walked out 
before breakfast, striving to collect my thoughts, 
and tranquillize my feelings. It was a bright morn- 
ing ; the air was pure and frosty. I bathed my 
forehead and my hands in a beautiful running 
stream ; but I could not allay the fever heat that 
raged within. I returned to breakfast, but could 
not eat. A single cup of coffee formed my repast. 
It was time to go to court, and I went there with a 
throbbing heart. I believe if it had not been for 
the thoughts of my little wife in her lonely log-house, 
I should have given back to the man his hundred 
dollars, and relinquished the cause. I took my seat, 
looking, I am convinced, more like the culprit than 
the rogue I was to defend. 

" When the time came for me to speak, my heart 
died within me. I rose embarrassed and dismayed, 
and stammered in opening my cause. I went on 
from bad to worse, and felt as if I was going down 
hill. Just then the public prosecutor, a man of tal- 
ents, but somewhat rough in his practice, made a 



Ralph Ringwood. 277 

sarcastic remark on something I had said. It was 
like an electric spark, and ran tingling through every 
vein in my body. In an instant my diffidence was 
gone. My whole spirit was in arms. I answered 
with promptness and bitterness, for I felt the cruelty 
of such an attack upon a novice in my situation. 
The public prosecutor made a kind of apology ; this, 
from a man of his redoubted powers, was a vast 
concession. I renewed my argument with a fearless 
glow ; carried the case through triumphantly, and 
the man was acquitted. 

" This was the making of me. Everybody was 
curious to know who this new lawyer was, that had 
thus suddenly risen among them, and bearded the 
attorney-general at the very outset. The story of 
my debut at the inn, on the preceding evening, 
when I had knocked down a bully, and kicked him 
out of doors, for striking an old man, was circula- 
ted, with favorable exaggerations. Even my very 
beardless chin and juvenile countenance were in my 
favor, for people gave me far more credit than I 
really deserved. The chance business which occurs 
in our country courts came thronging upon me. I was 
repeatedly employed in other causes ; and by Sat- 
urday night, when the court closed, and I had paid 
my bill at the inn, I found myself with a hundred 
and fifty dollars in silver, three hundred dollars in 
notes, and a horse that I afterwards sold for two 
hundred dollars more. 



278 Washington Irving. 

" Never did miser gloat on his money with more 
delight. I locked the door of my room, piled the 
money in a heap upon the table, walked round it, 
sat with my elbows on the table and my chin upon 
my hands, and gazed upon it. Was I thinking of 
the money ? No ! I was thinking of my little wife 
at home. Another sleepless night ensued ; but 
what a night of golden fancies and splendid air- 
castles ! As soon as morning dawned, I was up, 
mounted the borrowed horse with which I had come 
to court, and led the other, which I had received as 
a fee. All the way I was delighting myself with 
the thoughts of the surprise I had in store for my 
little wife ; for both of us had expected nothing 
but that I should spend all the money I had bor- 
rowed, and should return in debt. 

" Our meeting was joyous, as you may suppose ; 
but I played the part of the Indian hunter, who, 
when he returns from the chase, never for a time 
speaks of his success. She had prepared a snug 
little rustic meal for me, and while it was getting 
ready, I seated myself at an old-fashioned desk in 
one corner, and began to count over my money and 
put it away. She came to me before I had finished, 
and asked who I had collected the money for. 

" ' For myself, to be sure,' replied I, with affected 
coolness ; ' I made it at court' 

" She looked me for a moment in the face, incred- 
ulously. I tried to keep my countenance, and to 



Ralph Ringwood. 279 

play Indian, but it would not do. My muscles 
began to twitch ; my feelings all at once gave way. 
I caught her in my arms ; laughed, cried, and danced 
about the room, like a crazy man. From that time 
forward, we never wanted for money. 

11 1 had not been long in successful practice, when 
I was surprised one day by a visit from my wood- 
land patron, old Miller. The tidings of my pros- 
perity had reached him in the wilderness, and he 
had walked one hundred and fifty miles on foot to 
see me. By that time I had improved my domes- 
tic establishment, and had all things comfortable 
about me. He looked around him with a wonder- 
ing eye, at what he considered luxuries and super- 
fluities ; but supposed they were all right, in my 
altered circumstances. He said he did not know, 
upon the whole, but that I acted for the best. It 
is true, if game had continued plenty, it would have 
been a folly for me to quit a hunters life ; but hunt- 
ing was pretty nigh done up in Kentucky. The 
buffalo had gone to Missouri ; the elk were nearly 
gone also ; deer, too, were growing scarce ; they 
might last out his time, as he was growing old, but 
they were not worth setting up life upon. He had 
once lived on the borders of Virginia. Game grew 
scarce there ; he followed it up across Kentucky, 
and now it was again giving him the slip ; but he 
was too old to follow it farther. 

" He remained with us three days. My wife did 



280 Washington Irving. 

everything in her power to make him comfortable ; 
but at the end of that time he said he must be off 
again to the woods. He was tired of the village, 
and of having so many people about him. He ac- 
cordingly returned to the wilderness, and to hunting 
life. But I fear he did not make a good end of it ; 
for I understand that a few years before his death 
he married Sukey Thomas, who lived at the White 
Oak Run." 




THE PHANTOM ISLAND. 



Break, Phantsie, from thy cave of cloud, 

And wave thy purple wings, 
Now all thy figures are allowed, 

And various shapes of things. 
Create of airy forms a stream ; 

It must have blood and naught of phlegm ; 
And though it be a waking dream, 

Yet let it like an odor rise 
To all the senses here, 

And fall like sleep upon their eyes, 
Or music on their ear. — Ben Jonson. 

" HP HE RE are more things in heaven and earth 
X than are dreamed of in our philosophy," and 
among these may be placed that marvel and mys- 
tery of the seas, the Island of St. Brandan. Those 
who have read the history of the Canaries, the fortu- 
nate islands of the ancients, may remember the won- 
ders told of this enigmatical island. Occasionally it 
would be visible from their shores, stretching away 
in the clear bright west, to all appearance substan- 
tial like themselves, and still more beautiful. Ex- 
peditions would launch forth from the Canaries to 
explore this land of promise. For a time its sun- 
gilt peaks and long, shadowy promontories would 

281 



282 Washington Irving. 

remain distinctly visible, but in proportion as the 
voyagers approached, peak and promontory would 
gradually fade away until nothing would remain but 
blue sky above and deep blue water below. Hence 
this mysterious isle was stigmatized by ancient cos- 
mographers with the name of Aprositus or the Inac- 
cessible. The failure of numerous expeditions sent 
in quest of it, both in ancient and modern days, 
have at length caused its very existence to be called 
in question, and it has been rashly pronounced a 
mere optical illusion, like the Fata Morgana of the 
Straits of Messina, or has been classed with those 
unsubstantial regions known to mariners as Cape 
Fly Away and the coast of Cloud Land. 

Let us not permit, however, the doubts of 
worldly-wise sceptics to rob us of all the glorious 
realms owned by happy credulity in days of yore. 
Be assured, O reader of easy faith ! — thou for whom 
it is my delight to labor — be assured that such an 
island actually exists, and has from time to time 
been revealed to the gaze and trodden by the feet 
of favored mortals. Historians and philosophers 
may have their doubts, but its existence has been 
fully attested by that inspired race, the poets ; 
who, being gifted with a kind of second sight, 
are enabled to discern those mysteries of nature 
hidden from the eyes of ordinary men. To this 
gifted race it has ever been a kind of wonder- 
land. Here once bloomed, and perhaps still blooms, 



The Phantom Island. 283 

the famous garden of the Hesperides, with its 
golden fruit. Here, too, the sorceress Armida had 
her enchanted garden, in which she held the Chris- 
tian paladin, Rinaldo, in delicious but inglorious 
thraldom, as set forth in the immortal lay of Tasso. 
It was in this island that Sycorax the witch held 
sway, when the good Prospero and his infant daugh- 
ter Miranda were wafted to its shores. Who does 
not know the tale as told in the magic page of 
Shakespeare ? The isle was then 



full of noises, 



Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not." 

The island, in fact, at different times, has been un- 
der the sway of different powers, genii of earth, and 
air, and ocean, who have made it their shadowy 
abode. Hither have retired many classic but bro- 
ken-down deities, shorn of almost all their attributes, 
but who once ruled the poetic world. Here Nep- 
tune and Amphitrite hold a diminished court, sover- 
eigns in exile. Their ocean-chariot, almost a wreck, 
lies bottom upward in some sea-beaten cavern ; 
their pursy Tritons and haggard Nereids bask list- 
lessly like seals about the rocks. Sometimes those 
deities assume, it is said, a shadow of their ancient 
pomp, and glide in state about a summer sea ; and 
then, as some tall Indiaman lies becalmed with idly 
flapping sail, her drowsy crew may hear the mellow 



284 Washington Irving. 

note of the Triton's shell swelling upon the ear as 
the invisible pageant sweeps by. 

On the shores of this wondrous isle the kraken 
heaves its unwieldy bulk and wallows many a rood. 
Here the sea-serpent, that mighty but much-con- 
tested reptile, lies coiled up during the intervals 
of its revelations to the eyes of true believers. 
Here even the Flying Dutchman finds a port, and 
casts his anchor, and furls his shadowy sail, and 
takes a brief repose from his eternal cruisings. 

In the deep bays and harbors of the island lies 
many a spell-bound ship, long since given up as 
lost by the ruined merchant. Here, too, its crew, 
long, long bewailed in vain, lie sleeping from age 
to age in mossy grottos, or wander about in pleas- 
ing oblivion of all things. Here in caverns are 
garnered up the priceless treasures lost in the 
ocean. Here sparkles in vain the diamond and 
flames the carbuncle. Here are piled up rich 
bales of Oriental silks, boxes of pearls, and piles 
of golden ingots. 

Such are some of the marvels related of this 
island, which may serve to throw light upon the 
following legend, of unquestionable truth, which 
I recommend to the implicit belief of the reader. 



THE ADALANTADO OF THE 
SEVEN CITIES. 

A LEGEND OF ST. BRANDAN. 

IN the early part of the fifteenth century, when 
Prince Henry of Portugal, of worthy memory, 
was pushing the career of discovery along the 
western coast of Africa, and the world was resound- 
ing with reports of golden regions on the main- 
land, and new-found islands in the ocean, there 
arrived at Lisbon an old bewildered pilot of the 
seas, who had been driven by tempests, he knew 
not whither, and raved about an island far in the 
deep, upon which he had landed, and which he 
had found peopled with Christians, and adorned 
with noble cities. 

The inhabitants, he said, having never before 
been visited by a ship, gathered round, and regarded 
him with surprise. They told him they were 
descendants of a band of Christians, who fled 
from Spain when that country was conquered by 
the Moslems. They were curious about the state 

285 



286 Washington Irving. 

of their fatherland, and grieved to hear that the 
Moslems still held possession of the kingdom of 
Granada. They would have taken the old navi- 
gator to church, to convince him of their ortho- 
doxy ; but, either through lack of devotion, or 
lack of faith in their words, he declined their 
invitation, and preferred to return on board of 
his ship. He was properly punished. A furious 
storm arose, drove him from his anchorage, hurried 
him out to sea, and he saw no more of the un- 
known island. 

This strange story caused great marvel in Lisbon 
and elsewhere. Those versed in history remem- 
bered to have read, in an ancient chronicle, that, 
at the time of the conquest of Spain, in the eighth 
century, when the blessed cross was cast down 
and the crescent erected in its place, and when 
Christian churches were turned into Moslem 
mosques, seven bishops, at the head of seven 
bands of pious exiles, had fled from the peninsula, 
and embarked in quest of some ocean island, or 
distant land, where they might found seven Chris- 
tian cities, and enjoy their faith unmolested. 

The faith of these saints errant had hitherto 
remained a mystery, and their story had faded 
from memory ; the report of the old tempest- 
tossed pilot, however, revived this long-forgotten 
theme ; and it was determined by the pious and 
enthusiastic that the island thus accidentally dis- 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 287 

covered was the identical place of refuge whither 
the wandering bishops had been guided by a pro- 
tecting Providence, and where they had folded 
their flocks. 

This most excitable of worlds has always some 
darling object of chimerical enterprise ; the " Island 
of the Seven Cities " now awakened as much in- 
terest and longing among zealous Christians as 
has the renowned city of Timbuctoo among ad- 
venturous travellers, or the Northeast passage 
among hardy navigators ; and it was a frequent 
prayer of the devout, that these scattered and 
lost portions of the Christian family might be 
discovered and reunited to the great body of 
Christendom. 

No one, however, entered into the matter with 
half the zeal of Don Fernando de Ulmo, a young 
cavalier of high standing in the Portuguese court, 
and of most sanguine and romantic temperament. 
He had recently come to his estate, and had run 
the round of all kinds of pleasures and excitements 
when this theme of popular talk and wonder pre- 
sented itself. The Island of the Seven Cities 
became now the constant subject of his thoughts 
by day, and his dreams by night ; it even rivalled 
his passion for a beautiful girl, one of the greatest 
belles of Lisbon, to whom he was betrothed. At 
length his imagination became so inflamed on the 
subject, that he determined to fit out an expedition, 



288 Washington Irving. 

at his own expense, and set sail in quest of this 
sainted island. It could not be a cruise of any 
great extent ; for, according to the calculations of 
the tempest-tossed pilot, it must be somewhere in 
the latitude of the Canaries ; which at that time, 
when the new world was as yet undiscovered, formed 
the frontier of ocean enterprise. Don Fernando ap- 
plied to the crown for countenance and protection. 
As he was a favorite at court, the usual patronage 
was readily extended to him ; that is to say, he re- 
ceived a commission from the king, Don loam II., 
constituting him Adalantado, or military governor, 
of any country he might discover, with the single 
proviso, that he should bear all the expenses of the 
discovery, and pay a tenth of the profits to the 
crown. 

Don Fernando now set to work in the true spirit 
of a projector. He sold acre after acre of solid 
land, and invested the proceeds in ships, guns, am- 
munition, and sea-stores. Even his old family 
mansion in Lisbon was mortgaged without scruple, 
for he looked forward to a palace in one of the 
Seven Cities, of which he was to be Adalantado. 
This was the age of nautical romance, when the 
thoughts of all speculative dreamers were turned to 
the ocean. The scheme of Don Fernando, there- 
fore, drew adventurers of every kind. The mer- 
chant promised himself new marts of opulent traffic ; 
the soldier hoped to sack and plunder some one or 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 289 

other of those Seven Cities ; even the fat monk 
shook off the sleep and sloth of the cloister, to join 
in a crusade which promised such increase to the 
possessions of the Church. 

One person alone regarded the whole project 
with sovereign contempt and growing hostility. 
This was Don Ramiro Alvarez, the father of the 
beautiful Serafina, to whom Don Fernando was be- 
trothed. He was one of those perverse, matter-of- 
fact old men, who are prone to oppose everything 
speculative and romantic. He had no faith in the 
Island of the Seven Cities ; regarded the projected 
cruise as a crack-brained freak ; looked with angry 
eye and internal heart-burning on the conduct of his 
intended son-in-law, chaffering away solid lands for 
lands in the moon ; and scoffingly dubbed him 
Adalantado of Cloud Land. In fact, he had never 
really relished the intended match, to which his 
consent had been slowly extorted by the tears and 
entreaties of his daughter. It is true he could 
have no reasonable objections to the youth, for 
Don Fernando was the very flower of Portuguese 
chivalry. No one could excel him at the tilting 
match, or the riding at the ring ; none was more 
bold and dexterous in the bull-fight ; none com- 
posed more gallant madrigals in praise of his lady's 
charms, or sang them with sweeter tones to the ac- 
companiment of her guitar ; nor could any one 
handle the castanets and dance the bolero with 



290 Washington Irving. 

more captivating grace. All these admirable quali- 
ties and endowments, however, though they had 
been sufficient to win the heart of Serafina, were 
nothing in the eyes of her unreasonable father. 
Oh Cupid, god of Love ! why will fathers always 
be so unreasonable ? 

The engagement to Serafina had threatened at 
first to throw an obstacle in the way of the expedi- 
tion of Don Fernando, and for a time perplexed 
him in the extreme. He was passionately attached 
to the young lady ; but he was also passionately 
bent on this romantic enterprise. How should he 
reconcile the two passionate inclinations ? A sim- 
ple and obvious arrangement at length presented 
itself, — marry Serafina, enjoy a portion of the 
honeymoon at once, and defer the rest until his 
return from the discovery of the Seven Cities ! 

He hastened to make known this most excellent 
arrangement to Don Ramiro, when the long- 
smothered wrath of the old cavalier burst forth. 
He reproached him with being the dupe of wander- 
ing vagabonds and wild schemers, and with squan- 
dering all his real possessions, in pursuit of empty 
bubbles. Don Fernando was too sanguine a pro- 
jector, and too young a man, to listen tamely to 
such language. He acted with what is technically 
called " becoming spirit." A high quarrel ensued ; 
Don Ramiro pronounced him a madman, and for- 
bade all farther intercourse with his daughter until 




A HIGH QUARREL ENSUED. 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 291 

he should give proof of returning sanity by aban- 
doning this madcap enterprise ; while Don Fernando 
flung out of the house, more bent than ever on the 
expedition, from the idea of triumphing over the 
incredulity of the graybeard, when he should re- 
turn successful. Don Ramiro's heart misgave him. 
Who knows, thought he, but this crack-brained 
visionary may persuade my daughter to elope with 
him, and share his throne in this unknown paradise 
of fools ? If I could only keep her safe until his 
ships are fairly out at sea ! 

He repaired to her apartment, represented to her 
the sanguine, unsteady character of her lover and 
the chimerical value of his schemes, and urged the 
propriety of suspending all intercourse with him 
until he should recover from his present hallucina- 
tion. She bowed her head as if in filial acquies- 
cence, whereupon he folded her to his bosom with 
parental fondness and kissed away a tear that was 
stealing over her cheek, but as he left the chamber 
quietly turned the key in the lock ; for though he 
was a fond father and had a high opinion of the 
submissive temper of his child, he had a still higher 
opinion of the conservative virtues of lock and key, 
and determined to trust to them until the caravels 
should sail. Whether the damsel had been in any- 
wise shaken in her faith as to the schemes of her 
lover by her fathers eloquence, tradition does not 
say; but certain it is, that, the moment she heard 



292 Washington Irving. 

the key turn in the lock, she became a firm be- 
liever in the Island of the Seven Cities. 

The door was locked ; but her will was uncon- 
fined. A window of the chamber opened into one 
of those stone balconies, secured by iron bars, 
which project like huge cages from Portuguese and 
Spanish houses. Within this balcony the beautiful 
Serafina had her birds and flowers, and here she 
was accustomed to sit on moonlight nights as in a 
bower, and touch her guitar and sing like a wake- 
ful nightingale. From this balcony an intercourse 
was now maintained between the lovers, against 
which the lock and key of Don Ramiro were of no 
avail. All day would Fernando be occupied hurry- 
ing the equipments of his ships, but evening found 
him in sweet discourse beneath his lady's window. 

At length the preparations were completed. Two 
gallant caravels lay at anchor in the Tagus ready 
to sail at sunrise. Late at night by the pale light 
of a waning moon the lover had his last interview. 
The beautiful Serafina was sad at heart and full of 
dark forebodings; her lover full of hope and con- 
fidence. "A few short months," said he, "and I 
shall return in triumph. Thy father will then 
blush at his incredulity, and hasten to welcome to 
his house the Adalantado of the Seven Cities." 

The gentle lady shook her head. It was not on 
this point she felt distrust. She was a thorough 
believer in the Island of the Seven Cities, and so 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 293 

sure of the success of the enterprise that she might 
have been tempted to join it had not the balcony- 
been high and the grating strong. Other consid- 
erations induced that dubious shaking of the head. 
She had heard of the inconstancy of the seas, and 
the inconstancy of those who roam them. Might 
not Fernando meet with other loves in foreign ports ? 
Might not some peerless beauty in one or other of 
those Seven Cities efface the image of Serafina from 
his mind ? Now let the truth be spoken, the beau- 
tiful Serafina had reason for her disquiet. If Don 
Fernando had any fault in the world, it was that of 
being rather inflammable and apt to take fire from 
every sparkling eye. He had been somewhat of a 
rover among the sex on shore, what might he be 
on sea ? 

She ventured to express her doubt, but he 
spurned at the very idea. " What ! be false to 
Serafina ! He bow at the shrine of another beauty ? 
Never ! never ! " Repeatedly did he bend his knee, 
and smite his breast, and call upon the silver moon 
to witness his sincerity and truth. 

He retorted the doubt. " Might not Serafina her- 
self forget her plighted faith ? Might not some 
wealthier rival present himself while he was tossing 
on the sea ; and, backed by her father's wishes, win 
the treasure of her hand ! " 

The beautiful Serafina raised her white arms be- 
tween the iron bars of the balcony, and, like her 



294 Washington Irving. 

lover, invoked the moon to testify her vows. Alas ! 
how little did Fernando know her heart. The more 
her father should oppose, the more would she be 
fixed in faith. Though years should intervene, Fer- 
nando on his return would find her true. Even 
should the salt sea swallow him up (and her eyes 
shed salt tears at the very thought), never would 
she be the wife of another ! Never, never y never ! 
She drew from her finger a ring gemmed with a 
ruby heart, and dropped it from the balcony, a 
parting pledge of constancy. 

Thus the lovers parted with many a tender word 
and plighted vow. But will they keep those vows ? 
Perish the doubt ! Have they not called the con- 
stant moon to witness ? 

With the morning dawn the caravels dropped 
down the Tagus, and put to sea. They steered for 
the Canaries, in those days the regions of nautical 
discovery and romance, and the outposts of the 
known world, for as yet Columbus had not steered 
his daring barks across the ocean. Scarce had they 
reached those latitudes when they were separated 
by a violent tempest. For many days was the cara- 
vel of Don Fernando driven about at the mercy of 
the elements ; all seamanship was baffled, destruc- 
tion seemed inevitable and the crew were in despair. 
All at once the storm subsided ; the ocean sank into 
a calm ; the clouds which had veiled the face of 
heaven were suddenly withdrawn, and the tempest- 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 295 

tossed manners beheld a fair and mountainous 
island, emerging as if by enchantment from the 
murky gloom. They rubbed their eyes and gazed 
for a time almost incredulously, yet there lay the 
island spread out in lovely landscapes, with the 
late stormy sea laving its shores with peaceful 
billows. 

The pilot of the caravel consulted his maps and 
charts ; no island like the one before him was laid 
down as existing in those parts ; it is true he had 
lost his reckoning in the late storm, but, according 
to his calculations, he could not be far from the 
Canaries ; and this was not one of that group of 
islands. The caravel now lay perfectly becalmed 
off the mouth of a river, on the banks of which, 
about a league from the sea, was descried a noble 
city, with lofty walls and towers, and a protecting 
castle. 

After a time, a stately barge with sixteen oars was 
seen emerging from the river, and approaching the 
caravel. It was quaintly carved and gilt ; the oars- 
men were clad in antique garb, their oars painted 
of a bright crimson, and they came slowly and sol- 
emnly, keeping time as they rowed to the cadence 
of an old Spanish ditty. Under a silken canopy in 
the stern, sat a cavalier richly clad, and over his head 
was a banner bearing the sacred emblem of the 
cross. 

When the barge reached the caravel, the cava- 



296 Washington Irving. 

Her stepped on board. He was tall and gaunt ; 
with a long Spanish visage, moustaches that curled 
up to his eyes, and a forked beard. He wore 
gauntlets reaching to his elbows, a Toledo blade 
strutting out behind, with a basket hilt, in which 
he carried his handkerchief. His air was lofty and 
precise, and bespoke indisputably the hidalgo. 
Thrusting out a long spindle leg, he took off a 
huge sombrero, and swaying it until the feather 
swept the ground, accosted Don Fernando in the 
old Castilian language, and with the old Castilian 
courtesy, welcoming him to the Island of the 
Seven Cities. 

Don Fernando was overwhelmed with astonish- 
ment. Could this be true ? Had he really been 
tempest-driven to the very land of which he was in 
quest ? 

It was even so. That very day the inhabitants 
were holding high festival in commemoration of 
the escape of their ancestors from the Moors. 
The arrival of the caravel at such a juncture was 
considered a good omen, the accomplishment of 
an ancient prophecy through which the island was 
to be restored to the great community of Christen- 
dom. The cavalier before him was grand-cham- 
berlain, sent by the alcayde to invite him to the 
festivities of the capital. 

Don Fernando could scarce believe that this 
was not all a dream. He made known his name 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 297 

and the object of his voyage. The grand cham- 
berlain declared that all was in perfect accordance 
with the ancient prophecy, and that the moment 
his credentials were presented, he would be ac- 
knowledged as the Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 
In the meantime the day was waning ; the barge 
was ready to convey him to the land, and would as 
assuredly bring him back. 

Don Fernando's pilot, a veteran of the seas, 
drew him aside and expostulated against his vent- 
uring, on the mere word of a stranger, to land in 
a strange barge on an unknown shore. "Who 
knows, Sefior, what land this is, or what people 
inhabit it ? " 

Don Fernando was not to be dissuaded. Had 
he not believed in this island when all the world 
doubted? Had he not sought it in defiance of 
storm and tempest, and was he now to shrink 
from its shores when they lay before him in calm 
weather ? In a word, was not faith the very 
corner-stone of his enterprise ? 

Having arrayed himself, therefore, in gala dress 
befitting the occasion, he took his seat in the barge. 
The grand chamberlain seated himself opposite. 
The rowers plied their oars, and renewed the 
mournful old ditty, and the gorgeous but unwieldy 
barge moved slowly through the water. 

The night closed in before they entered the 
river, and swept along past rock and promontory, 



298 Washington Irving. 

each guarded by its tower. At every post they 
were challenged by the sentinel. 
" Who goes there ? " 
" The Adalantado of the Seven Cities." 
" Welcome, Senor Adalantado. Pass on." 
Entering the harbor they rowed close by an 
armed galley of ancient form. Soldiers with cross- 
bows patrolled the deck. 
" Who goes there?" 
"The Adalantado of the Seven Cities." 
" Welcome, Senor Adalantado. Pass on." 
They landed at a broad flight of stone steps, 
leading up between two massive towers, and 
knocked at the water-gate. A sentinel, in ancient 
steel casque, looked from the barbican. 
"Who is there?" 

" The Adalantado of the Seven Cities." 
"Welcome, Senor Adalantado." 
The gate swung open, grating upon rusty 
hinges. They entered between two rows of war- 
riors in Gothic armor, with crossbows, maces, 
battle-axes, and faces old fashioned as their armor. 
There were processions through the streets, in 
commemoration of the landing of the seven Bish- 
ops and their followers, and bonfires at which 
effigies of losel Moors expiated their invasion of 
Christendom by a kind of auto-da-fe. The groups 
round the fires, uncouth in their attire, looked like 
the fantastic figures that roam the streets in Carni- 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 299 

val time. Even the dames who gazed down from 
Gothic balconies hung with antique tapestry, resem- 
bled effigies dressed up in Christmas mummeries. 
Everything, in short, bore the stamp of former 
ages, as if the world had suddenly rolled back for 
several centuries. Nor was this to be wondered 
at. Had not the Island of the Seven Cities been 
cut off from the rest of the world for several hun- 
dred years ; and were not these the modes and 
customs of Gothic Spain before it was conquered 
by the Moors? 

Arrived at the palace of the alcayde, the grand 
chamberlain knocked at the portal. The porter 
looked through a wicket, and demanded who was 
there. 

" The Adalantado of the Seven Cities." 

The portal was thrown wide open. The grand 
chamberlain led the way up a vast, heavily moulded, 
marble staircase, and into a hall of ceremony, where 
was the alcayde with several of the principal digni- 
taries of the city, who had a marvellous resemblance, 
in form and feature, to the quaint figures in old 
illuminated manuscripts. 

The grand chamberlain stepped forward and an- 
nounced the name and title of the stranger guest, 
and the extraordinary nature of his mission. The 
announcement appeared to create no extraordinary 
emotion or surprise, but to be received as the antic- 
ipated fulfilment of a prophecy. 



3oo Washington Irving. 

The reception of Don Fernando, however, was 
profoundly gracious, though in the same style of 
stately courtesy which everywhere prevailed. He 
would have produced his credentials, but this was 
courteously declined. The evening was devoted to 
high festivity ; the following day, when he should 
enter the port with his caravel, would be devoted to 
business, when the credentials would be received in 
due form, and he inducted into office as Adalantado 
of the Seven Cities. 

Don Fernando was now conducted through one 
of those interminable suites of apartments, the 
pride of Spanish palaces, all furnished in a style of 
obsolete magnificence. In a vast saloon, blazing 
with tapers, was assembled all the aristocracy and 
fashion of the city, — stately dames and cavaliers, 
the very counterpart of the figures in the tapes- 
try which decorated the walls. Fernando gazed in 
silent marvel. It was a reflex of the proud aristoc- 
racy of Spain in the time of Roderick the Goth. 

The festivities of the evening were all in the 
style of solemn and antiquated ceremonial. There 
was a dance, but it was as if the old tapestry were 
put in motion, and all the figures moving in stately 
measure about the floor. There was one exception, 
and one that told powerfully upon the susceptible 
Adalantado. The alcayde's daughter — such a ripe, 
melting beauty ! Her dress, it is true, like the 
dresses of her neighbors, might have been worn 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 301 

before the flood, but she had the black Andalusian 
eye, a glance of which, through its long dark lashes, 
is irresistible. Her voice, too, her manner, her un- 
dulating movements, all smacked of Andalusia, and 
showed how female charms may be transmitted 
from age to age, and clime to clime, without ever 
going out of fashion. Those who know the witch- 
ery of the sex, in that most amorous part of amorous 
old Spain, may judge of the fascination to which 
Don Fernando was exposed, as he joined in the 
dance with one of its most captivating descen- 
dants. 

He sat beside her at the banquet ! such an old- 
world feast ! such obsolete dainties ! At the head 
of the table the peacock, that bird of state and 
ceremony, was served up in full plumage on a 
golden dish. As Don Fernando cast his eyes 
down the glittering board, what a vista presented 
itself of odd heads and head-dresses ; of formal 
bearded dignitaries and stately dames, with castel- 
lated locks and towering plumes ! Is it to be 
wondered at that he should turn with delight from 
these antiquated figures to the alcayde's daughter, 
all smiles and dimples, and melting looks and melt- 
ing accents ? Beside, for I wish to give him every 
excuse in my power, he was in a particularly excit- 
able mood from the novelty of the scene before 
him, from this realization of all his hopes and fan- 
cies, and from frequent draughts of the wine-cup, 



302 Washington Irving. 

presented to him at every moment by officious 
pages during the banquet. 

In a word — there is no concealing the matter — 
before the evening was over, Don Fernando was 
making love outright to the alcayde's daughter. 
They had wandered together to a moon-lit balcony 
of the palace, and he was charming her ear with 
one of those love-ditties with which, in a like bal- 
cony, he had serenaded the beautiful Serafina. 

The damsel hung her head coyly. " Ah ! Sefior, 
these are flattering words ; but you cavaliers, who 
roam the seas, are unsteady as its waves. To- 
morrow you will be throned in state, Adalantado 
of the Seven Cities ; and will think no more of the 
alcayde's daughter." 

Don Fernando in the intoxication of the moment 
called the moon to witness his sincerity. As he 
raised his hand in adjuration, the chaste moon cast 
a ray upon the ring that sparkled on his finger. It 
caught the damsel's eye. " Signor Adalantado," 
said she archly, " I have no great faith in the moon, 
but give me that ring upon your finger in pledge 
of the truth of what you profess." 

The gallant Adalantado was taken by surprise ; 
there was no parrying this sudden appeal ; before 
he had time to reflect, the ring of the beautiful 
Serafina glittered on the finger of the alcayde's 
daughter. 

At this eventful moment the chamberlain ap- 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 303 

proached with lofty demeanor, and announced that 
the barge was waiting to bear him back to the 
caravel. I forbear to relate the ceremonious part- 
ings with the alcayde and his dignitaries, and the 
tender farewell of the alcayde's daughter. He 
took his seat in the barge opposite the grand 
chamberlain. The rowers plied their crimson oars 
in the same slow and stately manner, to the ca- 
dence of the same mournful old ditty. His brain 
was in a whirl with all that he had seen, and his 
heart now and then gave him a twinge as he 
thought of his temporary infidelity to the beautiful 
Serafina. The barge sallied out into the sea, but 
no caravel was to be seen ; doubtless she had been 
carried to a distance by the current of the river. 
The oarsmen rowed on ; their monotonous chant 
had a lulling effect. A drowsy influence crept over 
Don Fernando. Objects swam before his eyes. 

The oarsmen assumed odd shapes as in a dream. 
The grand chamberlain grew larger and larger, and 
taller and taller. He took off his huge sombrero, 
and held it over the head of Don Fernando, like 
an extinguisher over a candle. The latter cowered 
beneath it ; he felt himself sinking in the socket. 

" Good night ! Sefior Adalantado of the Seven 
Cities ! " said the grand chamberlain. 

The sombrero slowly descended — Don Fernando 
was extinguished ! 

How long he remained extinct nomortalman 



304 Washington Irving. 

can tell. When he returned to consciousness, he 
found himself in a strange cabin, surrounded by- 
strangers. He rubbed his eyes, and looked round 
him wildly. Where was he ? — On board a Portu- 
guese ship, bound to Lisbon. How came he 
there ? — He had been taken senseless from a wreck 
drifting about the ocean. 

Don Fernando was more and more confounded 
and perplexed. He recalled, one by one, every- 
thing that had happened to him in the Island of 
the Seven Cities, until he had been extinguished 
by the sombrero of the grand chamberlain. But 
what had happened to him since ? What had be- 
come of his caravel ? Was it the wreck of her on 
which he had been found floating? 

The people about him could give no information 
on the subject. He entreated them to take him to 
the Island of the Seven Cities, which could not be 
far off ; told them all that had befallen him there ; 
that he had but to land to be received as Adalan- 
tado ; when he would reward them magnificently 
for their services. 

They regarded his words as the ravings of delir- 
ium, and in their honest solicitude for the restora- 
tion of his reason, administered such rough remedies 
that he was fain to drop the subject, and observe a 
cautious taciturnity. 

At length they arrived in the Tagus, and an- 
chored before the famous city of Lisbon. Don 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 305 

Fernando sprang joyfully on shore, and hastened 
to his ancestral mansion. A strange porter opened 
the door, who knew nothing of him or his family ; 
no people of the name had inhabited the house for 
many a year. 

He sought the mansion of Don Ramiro. He 
approached the balcony beneath which he had bid- 
den farewell to Serafina. Did his eyes deceive 
him ? No ! There was Serafina herself among 
the flowers in the balcony. He raised his arms 
toward her with an exclamation of rapture. She 
cast upon him a look of indignation, and, hastily 
retiring, closed the casement with a slam that tes- 
tified her displeasure. 

Could she have heard of his flirtation with the 
alcayde's daughter ? But that was mere transient 
gallantry. A moment's interview would dispel 
every doubt of his constancy. 

He rang at the door ; as it was opened by the 
porter he rushed upstairs, sought the well-known 
chamber, and threw himself at the feet of Serafina. 
She started back with affright, and took refuge in 
the arms of a youthful cavalier. 

" What mean you, Senor," cried the latter, "by 
this intrusion ? " 

"What right have you to ask the question?" 
demanded Don Fernando fiercely. 

" The right of an affianced suitor ! " 

Don Fernando started and turned pale. " Oh, 



306 Washington Irving. 

Serafina ! Serafina ! " cried he, in a tone of agony ; 
" is this thy plighted constancy ? " 

" Serafina? What mean you by Serafina, Senor? 
If this be the lady you intend, her name is Maria." 

" May I not believe my senses ? May I not be- 
lieve my heart ? " cried Don Fernando. " Is not 
this Serafina Alvarez, the original of yon portrait, 
which, less fickle than herself, still smiles on me 
from the wall ? " 

" Holy Virgin ! " cried the young lady, casting 
her eyes upon the portrait. " He is talking of my 
great-grandmother ! " 

An explanation ensued, if that could be called 
an explanation which plunged the unfortunate Fer- 
nando into ten-fold perplexity. If he might believe 
his eyes, he saw before him his beloved Serafina ; 
if he might believe his ears, it was merely her 
hereditary form and features, perpetuated in the 
person of her great-granddaughter. 

His brain began to spin. He sought the office 
of the Minister of Marine, and made a report of 
his expedition, and of the Island of the Seven 
Cities, which he had so fortunately discovered. 
Nobody knew anything of such an expedition, or 
such an island. He declared that he had under- 
taken the enterprise under a formal contract with 
the crown, and had received a regular commission, 
constituting him Adalantado. This must be mat- 
ter of record, and he insisted loudly that the books 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 307 

of the department should be consulted. The wordy 
strife at length attracted the attention of an old 
gray-headed clerk, who sat perched on a high stool, 
at a high desk, with iron-rimmed spectacles on the 
top of a thin, pinched nose, copying records into an 
enormous folio. He had wintered and summered 
in the department for a great part of a century, un- 
til he had almost grown to be a piece of the desk 
at which he sat ; his memory was a mere index of 
official facts and documents, and his brain was 
little better than red tape and parchment. After 
peering down for a time from his lofty perch, and 
ascertaining the matter in controversy, he put his 
pen behind his ear, and descended. He remem- 
bered to have heard something from his predecessor 
about an expedition of the kind in question, but 
then it had sailed during the reign of Don loam 
II., and he had been dead at least a hundred years. 
To put the matter beyond dispute, however, the 
archives of the Torre do Tombo, that sepulchre of 
old Portuguese documents, were diligently searched, 
and a record was found of a contract between the 
crown and one Fernando de Ulmo, for the discov- 
ery of the Island of the Seven Cities, and of a 
commission secured to him as Adalantado of the 
country he might discover. 

" There ! " cried Don Fernando, triumphantly, 
" there you have proof, before your own eyes, of 
what I have said. I am the Fernando de Ulmo 



308 Washington Irving. 

specified in that record. I have discovered the 
Island of the Seven Cities, and am entitled to be 
Adalantado, according to contract." 

The story of Don Fernando had certainly, what 
is pronounced the best of historical foundation, 
documentary evidence ; but when a man, in the 
bloom of youth, talked of events that had taken 
place above a century previously, as having hap- 
pened to himself, it is no wonder that he was set 
down for a madman. 

The old clerk looked at him from above and be- 
low his spectacles, shrugged his shoulders, stroked 
his chin, reascended his lofty stool, took the pen 
from behind his ears, and resumed his daily and 
eternal task, copying records into the fiftieth vol- 
ume of a series of gigantic folios. The other 
clerks winked at each other shrewdly, and dispersed 
to their several places, and poor Don Fernando, 
thus left to himself, flung out of the office, almost 
driven wild by these repeated perplexities. 

In the confusion of his mind, he instinctively, re- 
paired to the mansion of Alvarez, but it was barred 
against him. To break the delusion under which 
the youth apparently labored, and to convince him 
that the Serafina about whom he raved was really 
dead, he was conducted to her tomb. There she 
lay, a stately matron, cut out in alabaster ; and there 
lay her husband beside her ; a portly cavalier, in 
armor ; and there knelt, on each side, the effigies 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 3°9 

of a numerous progeny, proving that she had been 
a fruitful vine. Even the very monument gave 
evidence of the lapse of time ; the hands of her 
husband, folded as if in prayer, had lost their fin- 
gers, and the face of the once lovely Serafina was 
without a nose. 

Don Fernando felt a transient glow of indigna- 
tion at beholding this monumental proof of the in- 
constancy of his mistress ; but who could expect a 
mistress to remain constant during a whole century 
of absence ? And what right had he to rail about 
constancy, after what had passed between himself 
and the alcayde's daughter 1 The unfortunate cav- 
alier performed one pious act of tender devotion ; 
he had the alabaster nose of Serafina restored by a 
skilful statuary, and then tore himself from the tomb. 

He could now no longer doubt the fact that, 
somehow or other, he had skipped over a whole 
century, during the night he had spent at the Island 
of the Seven Cities ; and he was now as complete a 
stranger in his native city, as if he had never been 
there. A thousand times did he wish himself back 
to that wonderful island, with its antiquated ban- 
quet halls, where he had been so courteously re- 
ceived ; and now that the once young and beautiful 
Serafina was nothing but a great-grandmother in 
marble, with generations of descendants, a thousand 
times would he recall the melting black eyes of the 
alcayde's daughter, who doubtless, like himself, 



3io Washington Irving. 

was still flourishing in fresh juvenility, and breathe a 
secret wish that he was seated by her side. 

He would at once have set on foot another expe- 
dition, at his own expense, to cruise in search of 
the sainted island, but his means were exhausted. 
He endeavored to rouse others to the enterprise, 
setting forth the certainty of profitable results, of 
which his own experience furnished such unques- 
tionable proof. Alas ! no one would give faith to 
his tale ; but looked upon it as the feverish dream 
of a shipwrecked man. He persisted in his efforts ; 
holding forth in all places and all companies, until 
he became an object of jest and jeer to the light- 
minded, who mistook his earnest enthusiasm for a 
proof of insanity ; and the very children in the 
streets bantered him with the title of " The Ada- 
lantado of the Seven cities." 

Finding all efforts in vain, in his native city of 
Lisbon, he took shipping for the Canaries, as being- 
nearer the latitude of his former cruise, and inhab- 
ited by people given to nautical adventure. Here 
he found ready listeners to his story ; for the old 
pilots and mariners of those parts were notorious 
island-hunters, and devout believers in all the won- 
ders of the seas. Indeed, one and all treated his 
adventure as a common occurrence, and turning to 
each other, with a sagacious nod of the head, 
observed, " He has been at the Island of St. 
Brandan." 



The Adalantado of the Seven Cities. 311 

They then went on to inform him of that great 
marvel and enigma of the ocean ; of its repeated 
appearance to the inhabitants of their islands ; and 
of the many but ineffectual expeditions that had 
been made in search of it. They took him to a 
promontory of the island of Palma, whence the 
shadowy St. Brandan had oftenest been descried, 
and they pointed out the very tract in the west 
where its mountains had been seen. 

Don Fernando listened with rapt attention. He 
had no longer a doubt that this mysterious and 
fugacious island must be the same with that of the 
Seven Cities ; and that some supernatural in- 
fluence connected with it had operated upon him- 
self, and made the events of a night occupy the 
space of a century. 

He endeavored, but in vain, to rouse the island- 
ers to another attempt at discovery ; they had given 
up the phantom island as indeed inaccessible. 
Fernando, however, was not to be discouraged. 
The idea wore itself deeper and deeper in his mind, 
until it became the engrossing subject of his 
thoughts and object of his being. Every morning 
he would repair to the promontory of Palma, and 
sit there throughout the livelong day, in hopes of 
seeing the fairy mountains of St. Brandan peering 
above the horizon ; every evening he returned to 
his home, a disappointed man, but ready to resume 
his post on the following morning. 



3i2 Washington Irving. 

His assiduity was all in vain. He grew gray in 
his ineffectual attempt ; and was at length found 
dead at his post. His grave is still shown in the 
island of Palma, and a cross is erected on the spot 
where he used to sit and look out upon the sea, in 
hopes of the reappearance of the phantom island. 

Note.-— For various particulars concerning the 
Island of St. Brandan and the Island of the Seven 
Cities •, those ancient problems of the ocean, the 
curious reader is referred to articles under those 
heads in the Appendix to the Life of Columbus. 

THE END. 




